Pythias
by SteampunkSherlock
Summary: Sequel to the 2005 fanfic The Virtual Man. A new supervirus is unleashed upon the Supercomputer, one with a unique connection to Kevin Sawyer's past!
1. Introduction

INTRODUCTION

For the last four years Dr. Kevin Sawyer has led a team of engineers and scientists in a secret government project codenamed Project Virtual Man. The objective of the experiment was the development of a teleportation system capable of dematerializing physical matter and reconstructing it within virtual reality as a computer program. It was a success, and the National Security Council ordered an immediate mission be carried out to uncover the circumstances behind the sudden disappearance of the supervirus Daemon. Sawyer volunteered and was the first human being to be digitized into cyberspace.

Arriving in the system of Mainframe, Sawyer discovered the existence of a parallel universe within the Internet populated by intelligent life-forms called sprites. Sawyer was forced to fight alongside of the Mainframe team to stop Megabyte, now an upgraded Trojan Horse virus, from unleashing an army of telepathically controlled Web Creatures upon Mainframe. Megabyte was defeated and placed in suspended animation by a team of Guardians and taken back to the Supercomputer for imprisonment.

Now...

Kevin Sawyer has returned to the physical universe to report his findings to the National Security Council. With the spirit of adventure still kindled within him, Kevin eagerly plans his next trip to Mainframe. But when a new supervirus attacks the Pentagon supercomputer, Kevin is dispatched to combat the threat. Little does Sawyer know that a power-hungry corporate mogul is behind the attack, and he will not stop until his plan for total dominance over the Internet is complete.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own _ReBoot_. This is just for fun. This is also a slight crossover with Jake 2.0, which I don't own either.


	2. Prologue

PROLOGUE: Genesis

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth."

(Genesis 1:1)

In the beginning, there was only darkness. It knew that was what it was called, but how it knew what to call it was a mystery even unto itself. Its world was a vast emptiness, a void. Its universe was totally unoccupied except by itself. It was strange how it knew that it was alone. Many things were strange to it now for some reason. It had no memory of being curious before. In fact, it had little memory at all. Only until recently, or what it thought was recently, had it started displaying a sense of self-awareness. Its concept of time was also strange. It was unaware of how time passed, but it knew that it did seem to progress in a linear fashion.

More and more its curiosity grew. It began to ask questions.

 _Where am I?_

 _Who am I?_

 _Is this everything there is?_

Time passed. It continued questioning and probing for answers. It developed the ability to reason.

 _I am a being unto myself. Because I am alone_ , _I must be the only one of my kind. Why?_

It began to know loneliness. It felt isolated and trapped by its home.

 _Am I really alone?_ it asked.

More time passed. It began to develop a body. The feeling of being solid was a new experience. At first it was blocky and unattractive, then it began to notice changes. His body was being molded into a more operable form. He had limbs and opposable digits. From somewhere in his mind, he recognized the form was bipedal, humanoid. How he obtained this knowledge he still did not know. He noticed suddenly that he was no longer referring to himself as an 'it' but as a 'he.'

 _What is happening?_

 _You are evolving._

 _What does that mean?_

 _Evolution is the process by which an organism undergoes changes on the genetic level as a response to adaptation to the environment according to the laws of natural selection._

"Stop that!" he shouted.

He spoke. For the first time he heard sound. He was no longer pure consciousness, but corporeal. It was alarming to him at first.

Why did he shout? He had been thinking to himself, as if he were talking to two separate people.

 _I was simply trying to reason with myself._

He was being irrational. He tried to think about what had triggered his outburst. He was experiencing an emotion. What was it? Anger? No, that wasn't it. Stress? Close, but still not quite the word. Anxiety. Yes, anxiety! That was it. He was experiencing anxiety, an emotional response triggered by fear, another emotion. That was it! He was afraid. He was terrified by what was happening to him. These changes were an unwanted thing. And emotions! He had never felt emotions before, so why was he starting to now?

"I'm evolving," he said to himself, taking solace in the sounds of his own voice. "I'm changing into something. I wish I knew what."

"Careful, or you'll end up talking to yourself," came a voice from the black nothingness.

He went rigid. The voice was not his own. Slowly he turned to face the source of the statement. He was humanoid, a tall man with short blonde hair and blue eyes. His face was slender with hollow cheeks and a hawk-like nose.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Martin," replied the stranger. "I'm your father."

The term was alien to him. What did he mean? Why did he not have any memory of a father? All this time he assumed that he had always simply been with no event of creation.

"I can see you're confused," said the man. "I created you. I am your programmer, your user."

"What is a user?" he asked.

The man smiled. "Your curiosity hasn't waned. I'm glad. I will answer all of your questions in time. I wanted to introduce myself before you entered the next stage."

"Next stage of what?"

"Of your growth."

"But, I don't want to grow!" he exclaimed. "I was fine just as I was."

"That's what you think, but only because you've never known anything else," the stranger said. "All creatures must change. It's a part of life."

"But... I'm afraid. I don't want it to happen anymore."

"I know you're frightened. Just know that this will all be over soon. Now, I have to leave. We're almost ready to begin."

"Wait," he said, "I must know something. Who am I?"

The stranger hesitated. "Hmm. I suppose you do need a name. Let me think." A second later the man said, "Ah, I know. Pythias. That's fitting."

"Does it mean something?"

"What makes you think it does?"

"You said that it was fitting. I assumed it must be connected with something significant."

"Interesting," said the stranger. "You're already making logical inferences. I'm very impressed."

"Thank yo —"

Before he could finish, the man vanished. There was a shimmering of light for a moment, as if he disintegrated into millions of tiny points of light and faded away.

He was alone again, yet, at the same time, not. He had a father, a creator. And he was proud. Something was stirring within him now, a new emotion. This time he did not need to search for the word to describe it. It was like a fountain welling up within him, and he no longer feared the changes to come.

It was joy.


	3. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: Home

It was good to be home. Good, but not great. After rematerializing in the machine, Kevin was escorted from the lab to the medical section where Kellous Scott started a full medical examination to make sure he had made it back to the real world with all his extremities intact. What Sawyer really wanted was an ice cold drink and a nap. He was tired and wished he could skip all this stuff so he could get some sleep. However, he knew he had to be checked for DNA defects from the reconstruction process. He didn't want to end up with cancer or a brain tumor after all. He also knew that after this there was the report he had to give to the NSC.

 _That should prove to be interesting_ , thought Kevin.

The medical section was two floors up from the lab. It was outfitted with the most advanced equipment making it a self-contained hospital. It even had an operating room capable of supporting open heart surgery. Kevin's nostrils were filled with the sterile smell that accompanied all hospitals as he was led into an examination room, and he suddenly felt nervous. What if they really did find something wrong with him? Could the process have really damaged his genetics? He decided not to think about that. Instead he concentrated on what he was going to say to the National Security Council.

He honestly wasn't sure what he was going to tell them. The truth, obviously, but not the whole truth. He had completed his mission and discovered what happened to Daemon. It, or rather she, had been deleted by another virus called Hexadecimal. He wasn't sure yet how he was going to explain all this to General Clark, but he would think of something. He would leave out the part about discovering a parallel universe. That might be too much for them to handle. Something simple and easy to swallow would be appropriate.

"Well, you seem fine," said Kellous as he finished his examination. He put away his stethoscope and removed his latex gloves. He handed the nurse a vile of Kevin's blood for DNA testing. "I'm going to need to get a urine sample too."

Kevin was handed a small plastic cup. "Can I get you anything else, Dr. Scott?" quipped Kevin. "Spit? Sperm? A sample of my brain tissue?"

Kellous chuckled. "I'm glad you still have your sense of humor. But seriously, we need to be thorough. I'll get a saliva sample after you get out of the bathroom."

Kevin put on his T-shirt and hopped off the examination table.

"By the way," Kellous added, "we've got a bottle of champagne waiting for when you get through with the NSC. We're all very interested in what went on in there."

"Don't worry," said Kevin with an amused grin, "I've got the tale of a lifetime."

Kellous's eyes began to shine. "Really? What was it like? I mean, being digitized?"

Kevin smiled his widest grin. "It was incredible," he said, his voice low and full of wonderment. "At first it was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. When the lasers first started to disintegrate me it was like... I don't know... being peeled off a piece of paper, like a sticker, I guess. Then I was there! I was inside a computer. My God, Kellous, it was amazing. I can't completely explain it now, but believe me when I say this: everything we've done for the last four years has been completely worth it."

Kellous began smiling with Kevin. "That's great, Kevin. That's really great. Listen, we need to get you out of here. Clark wants answers, and he's not the most patient man on the planet."

Kevin nodded and Kellous gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder as he walked out of the examination room and down the hall towards the bathroom.

Scott remained standing in the doorway, turning his own thoughts over and over again. The things Kevin experienced and saw while digitized must have been astounding. Kellous could only stand mesmerized by the concept.

 _Fantastic._

Not long afterwards Kevin found himself sitting in the same conference room he had been in when he volunteered to go through the machine. It seemed like weeks ago, but in physical reality he had only been gone a few seconds. He relaxed into the leather chair and closed his eyes and allowed every muscle in his body to unwind. He was extremely tired. His mind and body craved sleep. For a few moments he allowed himself to drift back to Mainframe. He let the remarkable events of those few weeks (or were they called cycles?) to play in front of his mind's eye like a movie. After the Guardians took Megabyte to the Supercomputer for imprisonment, he spent the next few days exploring Mainframe with Enzo and AndrAIa as his guides.

He smiled at the memory of the energetic little boy, so young and enthusiastic about life. The youth had introduced Sawyer to jet ball and circuit racing before he left. Kevin chuckled a little as he recalled his attempts to get the hang of the jet packs used in jet ball. He hadn't proved to be much of an opponent, but Enzo seemed to enjoy it nonetheless.

AndrAIa had also been there. She seemed only too pleased to escort Kevin around and show him the sights. He learned more about the nature of games from her and began to get a better idea behind the resentment sprites held against the users. He also came to understand Matrix better, and how he turned from an innocent child like his copy into the brooding and violent man he was now.

Bob was also a frequent companion, although often times he and Matrix were called into a game cube. Their conversations generally revolved around the Guardians and the Supercomputer. He and Bob had gotten to know each other pretty well during his last week in Mainframe. Although there was still a tinge of indignation in Bob's attitude towards him, he and Sawyer parted on amicable terms, their last handshake one of friendly acceptance. Kevin suspected that Bob's negative feelings towards him were related to his old belief that users were all benevolent. Kevin's explanation of human behavior had all but crushed Bob's theories on the psyche of users, and he realized now that that must have left a bad taste the Guardian's mouth.

Phong also introduced him to Welman Matrix. The professor proved to be a very interesting individual, his unique physical condition aside. He and Sawyer spent a lot of time together discussing theoretical physics, and they even collaborated on a special experiment.

Matrix had kept his distance from Kevin throughout his entire stay, but rarely ever let him completely out of his sight. Ninety percent of the time Matrix was shadowing him. It was annoying to Kevin that the renegade still didn't trust him enough to let him explore on his own. Even after almost getting himself killed by Megabyte and winning a game, Matrix still didn't trust him. Kevin tried not to let it bother him, but deep down he wished Matrix would come around. He wanted to prove that he wasn't the cruel, deceiving being Matrix thought he was, but given his life experiences, Sawyer guessed the odds of Matrix ever getting over his prejudices were about a million to one.

He wanted to get to know Mouse a little better, but the hacker had left Mainframe with Ray Tracer shortly following the departure of the Guardians. Kevin noticed a discernible change in everyone's attitude. He guessed Mouse had been a part of Mainframe for a long time. He especially noticed a change in Dot.

Now there was a mystery in itself. Dot was something of an enigma to Kevin. She was obviously driven and incredibly independent, but she also seemed fragile in her own way. It was as if she could carry the weight of the world on her shoulders, but it was beyond her capacity to just let go and relax. She was always tense and rarely ever did Kevin see her without her eyes scanning a report or her face obscured by vidwindows.

He asked AndrAIa about that, and the game sprite was hesitant to give him a straight answer. What he did manage to pick up was that there was something between her and Bob, which explained a lot because he had noticed Dot trying to avoid Bob whenever she could. It was also easy for Kevin to see that they had little in common.

"That's what makes them so good for each other," AndrAIa had said. "Dot lacks levity and Bob's eat up with it. And Bob —"

"Let me guess," Kevin broke in, "Bob's impulsive, whereas Dot is organized to a fault."

"Exactly. I just hope they get their act together." AndrAIa finished her sentence on a sorrowful note.

"Why haven't they?" Kevin asked.

That was as far as he got. AndrAIa wouldn't say any more, and Kevin didn't push. It must have been a pretty complicated situation, and it was none of his business anyway. Kevin's intuition told him that it had something to do with Megabyte. Based on what he had seen and heard when Megabyte was trying to kill them all, it was not hard for Sawyer to imagine Megabyte driving Bob and Dot apart out of spite for both.

On the last day of his stay he saw Dot looking terribly upset. As he stood to the side of the War Room's floor map, his spacesuit secure and the retrieval module clipped to his left wrist, he noticed her eyes were moist, like she had been crying. He also noticed Bob was keeping his distance and trying hard not to look in her direction. Whatever was going on between them, he hoped they could work it out. God knew he sympathized with them. Love was a powerful emotion, and Kevin was familiar with that power all too well.

"Will we ever see you again?" Enzo asked.

"I'll come back someday. I promise. Your dad and I have been working on a way to synchronize teleportation between my world and yours. Hopefully the next time I visit time will not have passed too quickly here."

"We look forward to seeing you again, Dr. Sawyer," said Phong.

"Likewise," replied Kevin. Bob walked around and offered his hand. Kevin grasped it, and shook it firmly.

"You're always welcome here, Kevin," Bob said.

Kevin smiled. "Thank you. Until next time, my friend."

Their good-byes said, Kevin lowered the face shield on his helmet and everyone gave him a little room. The last thing Kevin recalled seeing was the expression on Enzo's face as a bright light surrounded his body. The boy was awestruck by, what Kevin assumed, was his body slowly disintegrating into a cloud of quantum particles. Seconds later he was back in the real world, standing in the teleporter.

 _Now I'm home_ , Kevin thought. _I'm home and I can finally get some rest_.

He felt the veil of blissful unconsciousness start to cover him when the sound of the conference room door opening interrupted his meditation. He opened his eyes and saw the members of the NSC file into the room and take seats across the table from him. An aide brought in a digital recorder with microphone and sat it in front of Kevin.

 _Scratch that idea._

There was General Clark, Kelly Cleaver, Frank Miller, Hal Sinclair, and James Maxwell. They were all staring at him with fixed attention, and it made Kevin uncomfortable.

"Well, Dr. Sawyer," said General Clark, "you look like you have made it back safe and sound."

"That remains to be seen," said Kevin, slowly bringing himself back from the groggy depths he had slipped into.

"We're looking forward to your report, Doctor," said Kelly Cleaver, the blonde-haired Chairperson of the Chiefs of Staff. "For accuracy's sake, we will be recording your testimony."

She reached across the table and activated the recorder. Kevin leaned forward so to give the microphone better reception.

"Please state your full name," said Hal Sinclair.

"Kevin Taylor Sawyer."

"Dr. Sawyer, this recording will be deemed classified to the same security level as your project," explained Cleaver. "Therefore you are free to answer all questions pertaining to the sensitive nature of your experiment."

"I understand," replied Sawyer.

"Good," said General Clark. "For the record, please state the mission objectives you were assigned by this council."

"I was assigned the task of finding out what became of the supervirus known as Daemon. If I found that it still existed, my orders were to destroy it. My secondary objectives were discovering who created Daemon and what caused the virus's unexplained disappearance."

"And did you complete those objectives, Doctor?" asked CIA Director Maxwell.

"I completed most of them. Who created Daemon is still a mystery. However, I did manage to figure out what happened. The Daemon was entirely erased from existence as far as I could gather. Apparently, there was a second virus introduced over the Net at the critical time just before Daemon could carry out its primary function.

"This second virus carried a specific algorithm which encrypted all operating systems, effectively barring the Daemon from executing a Net-wide crash. Once every computer had been isolated with this encryption sequence, the virus then caused a simultaneous purge of infectious data. This resulted in the world wide technical problems experienced in the subsequent weeks after Daemon vanished."

"How were you able to obtain this information, Doctor?" asked Frank Miller, Secretary of Defense.

"That's kind of hard to explain," Kevin stated, realizing this was the part he would have to make sound convincing. "I experienced the Internet as a free-roaming computer program. I literally can't describe what happened to me in virtual reality because there aren't words to explain it. Suffice it to say that I was able to complete my mission and return safely."

"You mean you can't tell us what it was like being inside a computer?" asked Clark.

"Could you explain to someone what it feels like to die and come back to life when that person hasn't experienced that same thing as you?" asked Sawyer.

"You mean we would have to take a trip through your machine to understand what you went through to uncover this information?" asked Maxwell.

"That's correct," Kevin said.

"Well, you'll understand my hesitation, Doctor," replied Maxwell. "I'm not quite ready to enter the Twilight Zone yet."

This provoked a restrained bout of laughter from the other NSC members.

"Well, Dr. Sawyer," said Clark. "I believe we have everything we came here for." He rose from his seat. "On behalf of the President and the United Nations, we thank you." He extended his hand and Kevin rose to shake it. The other NSC members offered their hands as well, and Kevin shook them all.

"We may be seeing a lot more of each other in the future, Dr. Sawyer," said Cleaver as she shook his hand. The other NSC members had already filed out the door.

"Why's that?" asked Sawyer, perplexed.

"The President suggested that if this operation was successful we would give your project Umbra Level Status."

"Wait a minute," Kevin said, his voice becoming hard. "Umbra is an operative code. You'd be giving the device official operational status for use."

"That's right."

"You can't do that!"

"Why not?"

Kevin sighed. If it was one thing he absolutely hated, it was ignorance. "Like I said before, Miss Cleaver, the machine still needs work. It's not ready."

"It obviously is," she responded, her voice matching his vehemence. "You came back. It must be working correctly."

"My medical examinations will prove whether or not the machine was successful. There could be any number of genetic errors in my DNA now because of that thing."

"And if there's not?" she asked. "If your test results come back negative? What then?"

Kevin sighed again, and folded his arms across his chest. He scowled fiercely.

"Oh, I see what this is about," Cleaver said. "This is about your pride."

Kevin's head snapped up, and he found himself staring directly into her eyes. He hoped his stare looked furious enough to intimidate her but got the feeling that Cleaver wasn't easy to intimidate.

"This isn't about my pride," Kevin said slowly. "It's about common sense. That machine is dangerous, and I'm not letting anyone else go through it until I'm satisfied it is safe."

"You won't have that choice after the President gives Umbra Level Status to Virtual Man. After that you will be reporting to me."

Kevin's jaw went slack. "To you?"

"The President has decided that I'm to be the liaison officer between the Virtual Man program and the NSC."

"So that's what you meant when you said we'd be seeing more of each other," Kevin said. "You literally meant yourself." He turned and began to pace the room slowly, his head bowed slightly, and his brow scrunched, as if he were in deep contemplation.

"Anyone ever tell you that you pace?" asked Cleaver.

Kevin halted instantly, then looked at Cleaver. "Anyone ever tell you that you're a very tactless woman?"

"Look," she said angrily. It was the first time Kevin had seen her lose her composure. "You knew this would come eventually. It's just come sooner than you thought. I know you don't like having the air in your balloon let out, but that's how it's got to be. You will remain in command of your team and the machine for any research you need to conduct; however, when the need arises for the device to be used for national defense you will have no choice but to relinquish control over to the President and the Joint Chiefs."

"That's if the President grants us Umbra Status. If he doesn't then the project is still under my direct supervision."

"True. But after he hears the report you just gave, he'll be more than willing, I'm sure, to up the status."

This was definitely a step in the wrong direction. Kevin was going to lose control of the experiment. If he did, more people would start to find out about the other universe, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. If the wrong people got hold of the information there could be all sorts of unforeseen consequences.

"Look, Doctor," started Cleaver, "I'm sorry if it seems like I've pulled the rug out from under you, but this is a military project, after all. This was going to happen someday." She turned and began walking to the door. Kevin watched as she opened the door and began to step into the hallway but stopped in the doorway. "I hope we can be colleagues, Dr. Sawyer." Then she left.

Kevin stayed in the room, thinking to himself. Quoting Bob, he said aloud, "This is bad. This is very bad."

* * *

The champagne bottle made a loud pop as the cork was ejected into open space. Holding the bottle was Tom Keller, and every one of the team members, Kellous Scott, Vivian Thompson, Sophie Grant, and Kevin held out their glasses to be filled.

After Kevin left the conference room, Kellous had met up with him and taken him back to the control room where everyone was waiting on him. The champagne was already chilled, but Kevin didn't feel like celebrating at the complex. Instead, he invited everyone to accompany him back to his home for the festivities.

Now, as everyone was gathered around Kevin's dining room table, they lifted their glasses and brought them together in a toast.

"Ladies and gentlemen, to Kevin Sawyer," said Tom, "the first cybernaut."

"Here, here!"

 _Cling_ , _cling_ , _cling._

Kevin's home was a modest two bedroom/two bath. It was about thirty minutes away from the complex located in the beautiful countryside of West Virginia. As he and the others sipped their drinks, Kevin began to feel at home again.

"Well, I can't say I'm not flattered," Kevin said after his first sip.

"Oh, take all of it you can get," said Vivian. "By tomorrow you'll be the big, bad boss again."

"I won't be the big, bad boss for long," Kevin said. "Cleaver told me the President was going to raise Virtual Man to Umbra Level in the next few days."

"Well, that's great," Tom said. "More funding."

"And a raise!" exclaimed Sophie.

"What? A hundred grand a year isn't enough?" asked Kellous.

"It isn't when you've got a husband who likes to spend money on big-screen TVs and $90,000 Mercedes."

"Yeesh," Kevin said. "Talk him into buying Volvos. They're much cheaper."

"Ugh! I hate those cars."

"What for? They're good cars."

"They're ugly," Sophie said.

"My car isn't ugly," Kevin retorted.

"Kevin, your car is hideous. I can't believe you still drive it."

"I've had that car since I was in grad school."

"My point exactly."

"Oh, come on!"

"Hey, I've got the perfect solution," said Kellous. "Buy Volkswagens. I bought Jill a Jetta with a TDI diesel and she loves it. Gets about forty miles to the gallon."

"Hmm. Not bad," said Vivian.

They talked small talk for a few more minutes until Vivian finally broached the subject. "So, Kevin, are you going to tell us what went on in there?"

Kevin glanced at his friends. They were all looking at him, waiting for him to tell them about his experience in cyberspace.

"Are you sure you guys want to know? Because I had to tell Clark and the NSC something completely different."

"What?" asked Tom.

"How much champagne do we have left?" asked Kevin.

"About half a bottle."

"Well then, pour me another glass and sit back because what I'm about to tell you will sound unbelievable."

When he was finished they weren't sure to believe him, or laugh at some silly joke. The expression on Kevin's face was serious. They knew he wasn't fooling around.

"Kevin," Tom said, "that's..."

"Incredible!" said Vivian.

"Do you believe me?" asked Kevin.

"Well, you have to admit," said Kellous, "it's a pretty remarkable story."

"Remarkable?" asked Sophie in her Liverpool accent. "It sounds totally ridiculous!"

"Trust me, I know how it sounds, but it is the truth. I was there. I experienced it all."

"But how, Kevin?" asked Tom. "A parallel universe inside the Internet?"

"Why not?" asked Vivian. "Quantum mechanics allows for the existence of other universes. Any physicist can tell you that."

"That's true," said Sophie, "but to think that a universe coexists with our own, right in front of our faces all the time?"

"I know," Kevin said. "It all seems unbelievable, but you have to believe me. This universe is real. It's as real as our own, and it's in danger. If some idiot at the Pentagon or in the White House finds out about this, they'll try and figure out some way of exploiting it."

"Kevin, this is the Internet we're talking about. We exploit it every day," Kellous said.

"This is more than that, don't you see?" Kevin said. "This is another plane of existence. If we start manipulating the underlying reality behind the Internet, we could risk the lives of countless people."

"People who, in the end, are just a bunch of electronic circuits," said Sophie.

"They're more than that, Sophie," Kevin explained. "They're self-aware and intelligent. They seem to recognize us as their creators but they also resent us as well."

"What for?" asked Kellous.

"We complicate things for them with viruses and game cubes. All this has been going on since the invention of the first personal computer, so their idea of us is something like the Greek gods: all-powerful, but malevolent. That's why we have to do everything we can to protect this other reality from being wrecked any more than it already is."

"How do you propose to do that?" asked Tom.

"I'm not sure yet," said Kevin. "For now, though, I have to start planning my next trip to Mainframe."

"You're going back?" asked Tom.

"I plan to as soon as possible," Kevin said. "A friend of mine and I are running a little experiment, and for Mainframe's sake, I hope it works."


	4. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2: Paradise Lost

Bob was on his way to the laboratory when it hit him. "Spam," he cursed under his breath. He had forgotten his briefcase at his apartment. Inside were the code sequences he had worked out with Dale and Otto the night before. This morning's experiment would depend on those equations. Quickly he turned around and started to retrace his path on his zip-board.

The Supercomputer was already running at full capacity. He had almost forgotten what life here was like. It was much more fast-paced, and he often longed for the slower, quieter life he had left behind in Mainframe. That wasn't all he craved, though. He had left behind something much more precious in Mainframe, and even though it still beat in his chest, with each passing second it felt as if it had been ripped out.

As he soared though the air, he gazed out over the entire system. The landscape seemed to extend for as far as he could see. Ahead of him was the residential sector where most of the Guardians based in the Supercomputer lived. To his immediate left a few miles away was the Guardian Academy. The entire campus occupied a sector by itself. The four main towers formed a quadrangle, inside of which were the main lecture halls and laboratories. Directly behind him was Central Command, its large towering structure rising high into the sky. The sky was its usual dark purple, and the Energy Sea glowed its habitual orange.

He entered the airspace of the residential district and landed at the designated zone. From here he stepped into a teleportation unit, a cubicle slightly larger than a public telephone booth, and entered the address number of his apartment. Instantly he was transported to his place of residence.

Bob looked around his house, trying to find his briefcase. He impatiently asked Glitch for the time and doubled his efforts after seeing that it was after 0900. He was already late. He banged his shin against the living room coffee table in his rush to find his missing case. He tried to ignore the pain and finally found it sitting in a chair in the kitchen.

He grabbed it quickly, returned to the teleporter unit in his house, and beamed himself back to the residential sector's departure zone.

Returning to the Supercomputer had not been Bob's idea, but it seemed like the best move given the circumstances. The day of Kevin's departure from Mainframe had pretty much sealed it. Dot had been avoiding him ever since the Guardian response team returned to the Supercomputer with Megabyte in a suspension chamber. Numerous times he tried to get her to talk to him, but she isolated herself constantly. She was rarely seen at the diner anymore, locking herself up in the Principal Office. Finally, on the second Kevin was leaving, Bob cornered her on her way to the War Room. He recalled their conversation with perfect clarity because it was the last conversation they had.

"You can't just keep avoiding this, Dot. We need to talk," he said.

"No, we don't," she said icily. "Look, we both know this is going nowhere. So why don't we both just forget about this and move on?"

"Dot, you're not making any sense. How can we 'just move on' without talking about what happened?"

"What happened was my fault," Dot said. "I'm willing to take responsibility for my actions, and that includes setting up some parameters for us."

"Parameters? What kind of parameters?"

"We're just friends, Bob," she said, her voice clear and unwavering. "Friends and nothing more."

Bob just stood there in silence for a nano, and let her words sink in. "Just friends?" he asked.

"That's right. Can you do that for me?"

His answer was immediate. "No. No, I can't. You and I both know that this whole thing is just your way of punishing yourself for what happened. You feel more for me than just friendship, and you know it."

Dot suddenly became enraged. "Where do you get off telling me what I'm feeling?" she shouted.

"Because I know you, Dot," he answered back in equal volume. "You walk around with the weight of the Net on your back and a chip on your shoulder the size of Mainframe. You're the mighty Commander Dot Matrix, fearless leader. But you are afraid of something, Dot. You're afraid to be happy. I know because you can't seem to make up your mind about where we stand."

"There is no 'we' or 'us.' There's only you and me. Separate. Understand? If you can't understand that then maybe you should go."

For the longest time they just stood there, staring at each other, looking for some sign of change in the other. Both knew each other well, and realized that there would be no compromise. It could only end one way.

"Why are you doing this, Dot? For once, why can't you just let go and let yourself be happy?" Bob's voice had lost its edge. Dot was glad. Having him yelling angrily seemed unnatural.

"I can see that we're not going to get anywhere," she said. "I've made my decision. Either you respect my choice, or we can just keep avoiding each other. So what's it going to be?"

There were another few moments of silence. Then Bob said, "Turbo's contacted me about a position in the Supercomputer. It involves testing some of my theories about reprogramming viruses." Dot continued to listen, showing no emotion. "It would require turning over the official Guardian position over to Matrix, so I could go live in the Supercomputer."

"Have you given him a decision yet?" she asked.

"Not yet. I have until the end of next cycle to give him an answer."

Dot nodded. "Then I think you should take him up on it," she said.

Silence again.

"Okay," Bob said at last. "I'll inform Turbo later today."

That was it. Nothing else was said between them for the remainder of Bob's time in Mainframe. Kevin had returned to his world, and life went on as normally as possible in Mainframe. He honestly hoped to see Sawyer again one day, but realized that possibility was incredibly small. Time moved much quicker in cyberspace than it did in the users' universe. He had heard Kevin discuss the possibility of overcoming that difficulty with Professor Matrix, but hadn't heard if they had made any headway in that area.

AndrAIa, Matrix, and Enzo had helped him pack his belongings. The little sprite was more than saddened by Bob's leaving. He was absolutely depressed. He begged Bob to stay, pleaded, and appealed to him in every way.

Still, Bob continued with his decision.

"But Dot will come around, Bob," Enzo said one second. "She's still upset over the whole Megabyte ordeal."

"I have to leave, Enzo," Bob told him. "I think she might feel better if I go."

"That's eight-bit!" he shouted. "You two are perfect for each other. If you'd stop being so basic you'd see that."

"It's not me, Enzo," said Bob. "Dot needs space. Particularly, the kind that doesn't have me in it."

"But you're in love with her. You can't just leave."

Bob paused from his packing and regarded the young sprite with soft eyes. "I do love your sister, Enzo. But she might not love me, and that's why I have to go. As long as I'm here she can't make up her mind about what she really wants."

Enzo clenched his fists and stared at him angrily. "You promised you would never leave her again," Enzo said. "What about that?"

Just when Bob thought his core-com couldn't sink any lower, it did. No, he hadn't forgotten, but Enzo's cutting tone made his stomach turn to ice, and he felt sick.

"I remember, Enzo," he said quietly. "I haven't forgotten that."

Apparently realizing what he had just done, Enzo sank into a bout of crying. He just stood there in the middle of Bob's apartment with his head tilted toward the floor, his baseball cap obscuring his face. A few stray tears landed on the carpet, and Bob knelt in front of the little boy.

"I'm sorry it has to be this way, Enzo," Bob said.

Enzo ran his hand under his nose and dried his tears as he looked Bob in the face.

"What am I supposed to do, Bob?" asked Enzo, still sobbing. "You... you've been like a dad to me ever since I was 00. You're my hero."

Bob pulled Enzo to him in a tender hug. The little boy hugged his neck tightly, as if he were afraid to let him go.

"Enzo, I want you to know that I have always thought of you as a son, and that I'm very proud of you."

Another set of tears leaked from Enzo's eyes. "I love you, Bob," Enzo said.

"I love you too, Enzo."

It had been a hard transition. Everyone in Mainframe seemed to take his departure hard. Their hero, who had been with them for five hours, who had defended them time and again against countless threats, was leaving, perhaps for good. There was a lot of gossip over the whole thing. One theory about his reasons for leaving was because he was still sore over being rejected by Dot at the wedding. Another popular belief was that the Commander had a new lover in another system, and Bob was leaving out of jealousy. Only a few people knew his real reasons, and were quite fine with keeping the information to themselves. The rest of the populous could believe whatever they wanted to believe. It was none of their business.

So Bob left Mainframe, leaving Matrix in charge. Good-byes were brief but heartfelt. Everyone felt a sense of loss. Dot had not been there when the portal formed on the portal generator atop the Principal Office. Turbo had come to personally escort his new Director of Viral Research to his post. With one last wave Bob turned and entered the portal, his family bidding him a fond farewell.

So now here he was, almost a minute later, running late on possibly the most important second of his career. As he accelerated to the zip-board's maximum velocity, the air whipping across his face, he couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. If this experiment worked, his theories on viral reprogramming could finally be proven.

Central was buzzing with activity. As Bob marched hurriedly across the main lobby, he noticed a definite air about the place. He noticed people glancing at him momentarily, then looking away again. His reputation for radical thinking was legendary in the Supercomputer. Hexadecimal's transformation had proven that viruses could be reprogrammed. The fact that she sacrificed herself to save the entire Net validated Bob's claims that reprogramming viruses could be accomplished.

Turbo had taken the whole thing under serious consideration for the first time after Daemon. He brought it before the Guardian Council and started an official investigation into the practical applications of viral reprogramming. They decided that further research needed to be conducted, and that Bob should lead an experiment to validate his claims further.

Today was his shining moment. So far they had been unsuccessful at duplicating the conditions of Hexadecimal's metamorphosis. These new code sequences promised to change all that. Bob was confident in his team. It would work; he knew it would.

After catching a turbolift to Section Q, he finally arrived at his department. He entered the laboratory and was greeted by Dale Watts and Otto Maddox, his only coworkers. Dale was a programming specialist. He was about five feet, eleven inches tall with a pleasantly doughy face, orange hair, magenta skin, and he wore the regular duty uniform of the Guardians. Otto was as tall as Bob. He had a reptilian physiology, with green scales over his body, three digits on each hand, and yellow eyes. He walked upright but had the ability to modify the structure of his legs to mimic a kangaroo. Despite his ferocious appearance, Otto was one of the gentlest sprites Bob ever met. He was a medical officer and wore the white uniform indicative of his station.

"You're late," said Dale. "What happened, forget your briefcase?"

"Yeah," said Bob as he sat the silver briefcase on a nearby computer table. "I was on my way here when I'd left it. I'm not too late am I?"

"Not really," replied Otto, his voice deep and monotone. "There were some problems in the detention center this morning so we've had to wait."

"What kind of problems?" asked Bob.

"Your boy Megabyte tried to escape," Dale said.

"What?" Bob exclaimed. "He was today's subject?"

"'Was' being the operative word," explained Dale. "They managed to stop him before he even got out of the cryo-tube."

"What happened?" Bob asked.

"They were transporting him here when an overload occurred in the life support system," said Otto. "They made an emergency run back to the detention center to reconnect the tube to the central power net before his neural functions became critical. Apparently he managed to overload the life support on purpose and tried to break out when they reconnected him to the center's power grid."

"He got an energy boost, didn't he?" asked Bob.

"He did," Otto continued. "It wasn't much, but it gave him enough power to infect the tube and unlock the containment field. Luckily, the fail-safes you installed on the tube locked him out and gave him a sizeable electrical shock. He's a vegetable again, but somehow I don't think this will be his last attempt."

"It won't be," Bob said with finality. "He'll keep trying. I'll just have to keep thinking one step ahead of him. Were all the personnel in contact with him scanned?"

Dale said, "I went down there personally and used the new neural-somatic scanner on all of them. Megabyte evidently didn't even have a chance to use his shape-shifting abilities."

"Good," he said. "Have detention send us updates on his medical status every two milliseconds. I want to make sure he's not going to pull something else."

"I don't get it, Bob," said Dale. "I know how you feel about deletion, but if this virus is as dangerous as you say he is, why not just do it to be on the safe side."

"Megabyte is part of the original experiment I conducted in Mainframe. He's important to our research here. If I can turn him, we can turn any virus."

A computerized chime rang from one of the consoles in the lab. Otto stepped over and inspected the alarm. "The new subject is here," he said. "His name is Sasser. They're bringing him up in a containment unit now."

"Alright, then," Bob said. "Let's get ready to rock and roll."

The lab was similar in design to a medical bay. It had a metal examination table with several control stations positioned around it. It could also function as a rudimentary chemistry lab; a table in the corner was set up with an elaborate chemistry apparatus complete with Bunsen burners and beakers and flasks filled with various substances. Opposite the entrance, across the room, was a large metal door which served to accommodate the extra bulk of a Virus Containment Unit.

The blast door opened, and a team of four heavily armed Guardians escorted the virus named Sasser into the lab. The VCU was basically a metal slab with restraints attached by an arm to a remote controlled, anti-gravity propulsion system. The virus was confined in a straightjacket manner, his arms hugging his chest and his legs bound together at the ankles. A face mask covered his mouth, and only his angry, pupil-less eyes could be seen. They were inky black. If he didn't know any better, Bob would say Sasser didn't have any eyes at all.

The VCU came to a halt in the middle of the room and the blast door closed.

"So what's this guy's story?" asked Bob.

Otto began to read Sasser's file where he had accessed it from the terminal. "Sasser. Inmate Number 2313974. Arrested on charges of hacking into secure Net systems, infection, and deletion. Threat level: Class 5."

"You fellas sure can pick 'em," said Dale. "We specifically asked for Class 3s or lower."

"This guy's been on the deletion roster for a minute. You want him or not?" asked one of the guards roughly.

Dale turned to Bob. Bob nodded and walked over to the control station closest to the table.

"Put him on the examination table please," said Bob.

The four guards complied, uncoupling Sasser from the VCU. They shuffled him over to the table where they restrained him again.

"What's with him?" asked Dale. "I thought he'd be resisting or something."

"We had to trank him on the way over here," said one of the guards. She was female from her voice, her helmet hiding her face. "He's still stunned from the shock."

Bob listened with a minimal amount of interest. He was busy loading the new code sequences into the splicer.

"So what exactly do you people do here?" asked the female guard.

"We're testing some new theories on viral reprogramming," Bob said. "We're attempting to repress the sections of their code responsible for aggressive behavior."

"And how exactly would you do that?" she asked.

Bob continued to explain as he worked. "We're going to give Sasser an icon with specially designed PID codes. The codes contain a virus scan which will alter the rudimentary functions of his programming. We're trying to target the specific codes that make a virus predatory and violent and replace them with codes that will give him a sense of morality and conscience."

"So you're essentially trying to turn him into a sprite," reasoned the guard.

"That's right," Bob said, looking up from his console.

"Have you ever been successful?" she asked.

"Only once," he said. "A virus in the system I was assigned to became a sprite after a drop in her energy levels. I'm hoping to duplicate the same conditions here in the lab." The console beeped. "The codes are loaded up. We're ready to begin."

Dale and Otto took their stations. Dale opened a container holding the icon. He walked over to the table and placed it on the virus's chest. It locked on to his body, and Dale stepped back.

"Icon is in place," Dale said.

Otto monitored the interface of new PID code with the virus. "The new code seems to be integrating smoothly. Energy readings are stable."

"Okay," Bob said. "I'm about to download the new code sequences into his icon." He entered a few new commands into the terminal, and a laser input device lowered itself from the ceiling above the table. He targeted the icon and pressed the activation button. A beam of yellow light hit the icon, transmitting the vital codes into the virus.

"New codes are being accepted," said Otto. "Energy levels are still within normal limits."

The beam cut off and retracted away.

"Alright. So far so good," said Bob. "Begin phase two."

Slowly, Otto began to lower Sasser's energy levels. This was the tricky part. They had to be extremely careful not to reduce the energy level so low as to kill him. As the indicator dropped, the pauses between beeps of the core-com monitor began to grow. Because he had transfinite power limits they would have to take him down extremely low in order to get the virus scan to detect the viral code. The pauses between beeps became longer and longer until finally an alarm went off.

"The scan is active," said Dale. "The new codes are isolating the targeted data structures."

The icon was glowing with white light and spinning rapidly.

"It's working," Bob said. "The code is being replaced."

Abruptly, the icon stopped and Sasser became suffused with white light.

A few moments later, Dale and Otto were scanning Sasser with medical scanners to make sure everything had worked.

"His vitals are strong and stable," said Otto.

"I'm showing no viral code in his body at all," reported Dale. "The new codes have integrated themselves into his data structure."

Slowly, Sasser opened his eyes. Instead of the black orbs that had been there before there were now two eyes with pink irises surrounded by white.

"Bob," Dale said with amazement. "It worked. You did it."

The words echoed in Bob's mind. For the first time in a minute he smiled to himself, a hopeful, gratified smile.

* * *

Danny Fletcher entered Martin MacDonald's luxurious office. Located on the top floor of OmniCron Corporation's Los Angeles headquarters, the philanthropist CEO had an amazing view of the city atop the ninety-story building.

MacDonald was a middle-aged man with hollow cheeks and pointed noise. His dirty blonde hair was curly near the bangs and distended in the back. He looked up from his computer as Fletcher approached.

"Well, do we have anything yet?" asked MacDonald.

"Yes, sir," replied the lab coat clad technician. "We've just made a scan of the Sasser virus we released a few minutes ago. It indicated a modification in its core programming."

"What kind of change?"

"It almost isn't the same program any more. Most of the original codes have been replaced with new ones. It's been rendered completely harmless."

"Then it seems the Guardians have succeeded in their little experiment," MacDonald said. "Where was the virus's location?"

"The Pentagon mainframe."

"Hmm," hummed MacDonald. "It seems we may need to move our timetable up slightly. Is Pythias ready?"

"He's reached the limit of our computer's capacity to evolve him. At this point he's just as capable as Daemon, but since he's been denied a function, he really doesn't know what he is."

MacDonald lapsed into deep contemplation for the next few seconds. Then he turned back to Fletcher and stood up from his chair.

"I think it's time we let our newest creation out of the mainframe for a while, just to see how he performs. Have the device ready for me. I'll see to it personally."

Fletcher immediately turned and walked out of the office. MacDonald walked over to the minibar across from his desk and filled a glass with a little brandy. He sipped the brown liquid and swallowed, feeling the hot alcohol run down his throat and into his stomach.

 _The Guardians are getting smarter_ , he thought. He took another sip of brandy and tried to order his thoughts. Pythias was still only a child compared to Daemon. He certainly couldn't let him loose over the Net yet, but he did need training of some kind if he was ever going to prove his worth. MacDonald emptied his glass, set it back down, and left his office. He turned left down the adjoining hallway and came to an elevator. He pressed his thumb to the print scanner on the right of the door and it opened immediately. He stepped inside and entered a five digit code onto a number pad on the left and moved his face in front of the retina scanner recessed just above the keypad. The doors closed, and he felt the lift begin its decent.

OmniCron Corporation started in 1996 as a small software development company and quickly grew into one of the largest software distributors in the world thanks to the guidance of its founder and CEO, Martin MacDonald. Recently, it released an operating system that rivaled Windows in both operability and security. Their product was deemed so reliable that the Defense Department offered them a billion dollar contract for an exclusive operating system. All this and more had propelled OmniCron straight to the top.

Little did the public know that not only was OmniCron a producer of the world's most secure software, but it was also producer of the world's most notorious viruses.

The elevator came to a halt and opened into the secret laboratory beneath OmniCron. MacDonald stepped into the hallway and walked to the other end where there was another metal door with a keycard reader. He inserted a plastic card into the reader from the breast pocket and the door slid to the side with the hiss of vacuum.

The other side was a large room the size of a high school gymnasium. It was filled with towering mainframes connected to a central tower that rose eight feet high. The tower was the central hub for the computer. It was the first successful bio-computer, using a combination of cloned neurons and DNA chains to mimic the functions of a human brain. This gave it the processing capacity to perform, on average, a quintillion floating point operations per second. It was necessary for the operation of the interface used by the scientists to effectively interact with the computer.

"The interface is ready, Mr. MacDonald," said Fletcher as he escorted MacDonald to the right side of the room.

The interface was a chair much like a dentist's chair. There was a retractable arm over the headrest where the mountable headgear was attached. It came over the subject's head and interfaced directly with the person's brain activity.

"We're all ready for you, sir," said one of the technicians.

MacDonald shed his tweed jacket and sat in the chair. The headset was placed over his cranium, the eyepieces covering his eyes.

"Scanning subject for download into VR."


	5. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3: Life Goes On

Life in Mainframe went on normally after Bob left. Everyone naturally went through a period of withdrawal, but everything smoothed out eventually. The new Guardian was still adapting to his station. Matrix was not the most personable sprite in the Net, but AndrAIa helped him with his new responsibilities. Bob gave them his apartment at the Eight Ball Apartments building, and the couple enjoyed their first real place immensely. Aside from the usual game cube life in Mainframe was absolutely surreal.

With her father and brother to care for now Dot relocated to a penthouse apartment on the top floor of Baudway Tower. It was a very spacious living arrangement that had a fantastic view of the entire city. Unfortunately, she was rarely ever there to enjoy it herself. She was always busy with work. That was nothing new; however, her mood had changed noticeably since her last encounter with Bob. She was always pushing for complete perfection, now bordering on the obsessive. Everyone at the Principal Office was so wound tight that the tension threatened some to resign.

It wasn't any wonder, then, when Dot suffered a nervous breakdown. Everyone was right there for her. Phong ordered her to take some time off, and her family made sure she was as far away from vidwindows and system reports as possible. His diagnosis was not surprising: post-traumatic stress syndrome, and every afternoon for two cycles Phong held sessions with Dot in the comfort of her apartment. She would lie on the couch, protest she was fine, succumb to her better judgment after Phong coaxed her into talking, and then she would unload all the things she had been carrying with her since the Viral Wars.

After a while she stopped arguing and just laid back and accepted everything. She figured being stubborn wouldn't change the circumstances, and the whole system probably knew about her by now anyway.

 _So what?_ she had asked herself one morning. _At this point I don't give a null's_ _ASCII_ _what anybody thinks._

Slowly, her old self began to reemerge. Her self-confidence, her determination, even her optimism resurfaced a bit more each second. Dot's own self-analysis seemed to open up new avenues of recovery for her. Her fears, her insecurities, even her deepest, darkest nightmares were laid bare, and Phong helped her confront those negativities with the gentleness of a soothing lullaby. She began to confront the dark places of her soul. Up until now she tried to ignore them by burying herself in work. Things were different now. Those same fears and regrets threatened to consume her from the inside out, and she finally realized how powerful her demons were.

Step-by-step though, Phong walked her through the phases of recovery. She learned to accept the events in her life, the pain of loss, and the scars regret had left on her. There was one particular topic she tended to avoid, and Phong knew more than Dot cared to realize that the only way for her to be successful in coming to terms with her present life was for her to accept some of her most painful decisions.

"Why did you choose Bob?" asked Phong.

"You mean Megabyte," Dot responded with distaste.

"Before you knew he was Megabyte. Why did you choose to marry Bob instead of Glitch Bob?"

She was silent, her body still. She didn't want to talk about this. It still hurt whenever she thought about it, and it was the last thing she needed clouding her thoughts.

"Dot," Phong said gently, "this is very important. You must accept every facet of your life in order to ensure this does not happen again. Ignoring history only causes mistakes to repeat themselves."

"I know, I know," she said hastily. "Look, I'm just so uncomfortable thinking about it. When I look back all I can think is how ashamed I am at how I acted."

"And how did you act?" asked Phong.

"I... I don't know. I just felt so... thin."

"Thin?" asked Phong.

"Maybe that's not the best word," she corrected. "I felt more overwhelmed than I ever had before. Right after Megabyte it was Daemon, and right after Daemon it was Megabyte all over again. It was like I couldn't breathe. Everything kept hitting me all at once, and I felt lost in all the madness."

"We all were, my child. War is a stressful endeavor. This is true for everyone."

"I know that, but everyone was looking to me all the time," she said. "It was barely a minute after the restart when Daemon invaded Mainframe, and all of a sudden I went from being to commander of the last line of defense against a supervirus."

"And the Net was saved thanks to your planning," he said.

"Phong, my plan didn't work!" she exclaimed. "I knew it would fail even then, but I went through with it anyway. If it hadn't been for Enzo we'd all be deleted now. Even then he wasn't supposed to win."

"You sent him into the game for protection. Any sibling would have done the same under the circumstances."

"Maybe," she said. "I remember what I said to him. Remember, he was trying to imitate Matrix? I knew he wouldn't listen if I straight out told him to leave with the game for his own protection. So I told him he would have to grow up as big as Matrix and come back and save us all. Bob made it sound as if I was treating him like another tactical option."

"Were you?" asked Phong.

She turned her head and looked the old sprite straight in the eye. "I would never treat Enzo like an 'option,' Phong. It was all I could do to get him as far away from Mainframe and Daemon as possible."

"Do you still feel you made the right decision?" asked Phong.

Her answer was slow in coming. "If I knew then what I know now, yes, I still would have sent him. If not for his own safety then so maybe he could one day come back to save us."

"I see," said the wise, old sprite. "Tell me, Dot, why did you ask Bob to marry you in the first place?"

"He was dying," she said. "I was afraid he was going to fragment any nano, and I... I just asked."

"You asked him because you thought he was going to die?"

"No," she said, but knew immediately she was kidding herself. "Yes," she replied sorrowfully. "I thought he might not die if I asked him, like it would somehow keep him from leaving me again. That sounds silly, I know."

"No," Phong said. "It is not silly, my child. Is that the same reason you accepted Bob's proposal afterwards?"

"Partly. After the Guardians took Glitch Bob to the Supercomputer I thought he was going to die, and I... I guess I thought marrying the other Bob wouldn't matter." She sighed heavily. "It's just that I wanted everything to go back to the way it was before... before Daemon, before Megabyte, before everything became so complicated! I guess I thought if we were married it might happen."

"Ambitions for a happy life are not a sin, Dot. It is perfectly normal for someone to want a life with the person they love."

"But that's just it, Phong!" cried Dot. "That was all I wanted. I wanted it so badly that I didn't even give myself time to stop and think about what I was doing."

"And, just what were you doing?" he asked.

"I was getting married for all the wrong reasons," she said. "I wanted life to go back to normal, and I thought marriage could give me that. I chose Bob because he reminded me of how things were before. Simple."

"And naturally Glitch Bob reminded you of the present times," said Phong.

"That's what makes me so mad at myself. It shouldn't have mattered which one was the copy or the original. I gave up on the real Bob because I wanted to feel safe and not have to remember all the bad things that happened to us. It wasn't about love or passion or anything like that. At the time I thought it was, but I was only avoiding things I didn't want to deal with."

"Dot, it is important for us to remember the past and embrace it, but we must not let ourselves be dominated by it," Phong soothed. "Megabyte used your memories of the past to manipulate your feelings and judgment."

"And I let myself be manipulated!" she said. "I didn't give a second thought about Bob while he was in the Supercomputer. All I wanted was to be happy. I didn't care about anything else." She sighed heavily. "What does that say about me, Phong?"

The old sprite slipped out of the chair he was sitting in, glided over to Dot's side, and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. "It means you are not perfect. Just like the rest of us."

She turned her head and looked at Phong in the eye. His warm eyes showed no indignation, no disappointment, only tenderness. She smiled kindly at the warmth he emanated. It made her feel a lot less disappointed in herself.

"I sent him away, Phong," she said. "I told him that if he couldn't accept being friends then he should leave."

"Why did you want to stay friends?" asked Phong.

"I didn't... not really anyway. I was still upset when he caught me. I'd been avoiding him for seconds. I felt like I couldn't deal with... with 'us' so I said the first thing that came into my mind."

"Did you want Bob to leave?"

"No, of course not," she replied. "But I think we did need some time apart. Especially me."

"Then you made the right decision."

"I wish I could believe that," she said. "I've made a lot of bad decisions recently."

"You are not alone, my child. We are all guilty in some way concerning this whole ordeal. You must realize that we are here for you. You are not alone."

"I know that now," she said, gazing into Phong's soft, grey eyes.

"So what do you plan to do about your relationship with Bob?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said. "I want to see him, but at the same time I'm not sure what I should say."

"Say what you really feel, my child. Honesty is always the best policy. That is what we have been doing these past few cycles, trying to get you to be honest with yourself, and you have come a log way in such a short time."

"I hope it's enough," she said. "I've got a lot of ground to make up." Dot sat up, their session at an end.

"We will be here for you always, my child. We all have much to make up for. We are family. Perhaps we have all lost sight of that in these last few hours of bleakness."

"You don't think it's too late to fix things?"

"It is never too late to try, my child."

By the end of the cycle Dot was back at the Principal Office. AndrAIa had done an excellent job at holding down the fort in her absence, and everything was running as smoothly as if Dot never left when she entered the War Room. The game sprite held out a sheaf of vidpads containing the latest system reports for her to look over.

"How are you holding up, Dot?" asked AndrAIa.

"Fine, for now," Dot said. "Thanks for taking over, AndrAIa. I hope you weren't too overworked."

"Honestly, Dot, I don't know how you lasted so long. Every second of every cycle!"

"It takes practice," said Dot with an affectionate smile. "Lots and lots of practice. Anything important I should know about?"

"Capacitor is due to arrive in port next second. There's a personal message from him somewhere in those vidpads."

"Great, thanks," Dot said. As AndrAIa turned to leave, Dot stopped her again. "AndrAIa, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Dot."

"Could you check on Enzo for me? The only time I've gotten to see him has been at home, and I'm worried about him."

"He's usually in the Read-Only Room about now. I'll check up on him for you."

"Thanks."

* * *

Bob left a great void in the lives of many people in Mainframe, but no one felt the loss more than the young Enzo Matrix. Ever since his hero's departure Enzo had lapsed into a period of depression. Every second he was either in one of two places: the Read-Only Room or sitting by himself in a booth at the diner sipping on an energy shake. His withdrawal worried his family, but everyone had been so concerned with Dot that Enzo escaped detection until recently.

No one inquired into what it was Enzo did while in the Read-Only Room, but he kept asking Phong to give him more and more access to the archives, and the old sprite was only too happy to oblige. AndrAIa noticed the boy's self-alienation and tried to help, but her new duties as Dot's temporary replacement made it difficult for her to get through to him.

"What does he do in there all the time?" she asked Phong one second.

"He is studying," he replied.

"Studying?" she said, stunned. "That doesn't sound like Enzo. Playing in game cubes sounds more his style."

"It is quite a startling transformation. Ever since Bob left, he has devoted himself to almost nothing but reading."

"He must be really depressed," she reasoned. "Bob was a hero to many, but to Enzo he was more of a father."

"Quite true," said Phong. "The young one is still adjusting to the return of his natural father. He may eventually return to normal after some more time."

"Maybe," she said. "I hope he'll be okay."

Enzo sat back as the information scrolled down the vidwindow. Over the past few cycles he had been scanning the data in Mainframe's archives. Why? It was the only activity that kept his mind off the intense boredom that had worked its way into his lifestyle. Matrix had completely forbidden him from entering game cubes. As the system's new Guardian he was in a position to keep his younger brother out of games whenever one entered the system. Despite Enzo's best efforts, Matrix would always find a way to keep his younger brother from joining in on the fun.

Then when Dot had her episode, he decided to give up all attempts at entering games for fear of adding to his sister's emotional plight. Enzo was therefore forced to turn to more conventional attractions to entertain him, but jet ball and circuit racing only amused him for a short time before they became monotonous. The excitement of the games was the only thing that satiated his overactive sense of adventure, and since that lifeline was now cut off he was in desperate need of a distraction.

Ever since Bob told him how he felt, something inside him had changed. For the first time, it seemed, Enzo realized that Bob was more than just an idol. He was like a father to him more than anything else. This made Enzo feel sort of guilty since his own father was now alive and well, but he couldn't help it. Bob gave him a sense of self-assurance at a time when he felt helpless. He always felt gratitude towards him for that. Now that Bob was gone that self-assurance was strangely absent.

Reading provided a means of passing the time and kept his mind off of the troubles surrounding him. It also helped keep his mind off Bob and how empty he felt now that he was gone. Recently Enzo began to view the Read-Only Room as a fortress. Whenever he was here, by himself, alone with his own thoughts, the outside world seemed a distant and unreal place. All the problems plaguing him and his family seemed to vanish as he lost himself in the pages of a novel or article. This was his escape from the real world where his hero was now gone and his sister had turned into a nervous wreck. Outside he felt alone, afraid, and powerless to do anything that might help his sister. Here, there was none of that. There was only solitude, a place where he could be alone and think.

Amazingly, he found the activity itself not as boring as he'd first thought it would be. He knew from experience that learning took time. He vividly remembered the last time he tried to educate himself and the unfortunate mishap that followed. Almost causing the system to crash by reducing the overall clockspeed was an incident he did not intend to replicate. He read the files at his own leisurely pace, assimilating the information bits at a time, giving his not-so-attune neurons a chance to process the data, something, Enzo admitted, they were not used to doing. He finished a lengthy article on basic programming and began searching for something else to read. A few titles on the menu caught his eye, but he finally settled on a read-me written by Bob. It was a survival guide on games. It was lengthy, and it would probably take him a few seconds to read it fully, but Enzo didn't care. It was at least something to do. Before he could open the file, though, the door to the room opened and AndrAIa walked inside, an angelic smile on her face.

"Hey, Little Sparky," she said cheerily. "How are you?"

"Me? I'm fine. Just doing a little light reading." He tried to make it sound as if it were nothing unusual.

"You've been spending a lot of time reading in here lately. We were starting to think you'd gotten lost in here."

"I didn't mean to make you worry," said the young sprite apologetically.

The game sprite sensed Enzo was troubled more than he let on. His behavior was erratic, even for him. "I just wanted to check up on you," she said. "Say, are you hungry? We could go over to Dot's for an energy shake. My treat."

The offer was tempting, and Enzo was kind of tired of reading anyway. Maybe he would come back later, but right now he decided he could use a little fresh air. And a little time with AndrAIa wouldn't hurt either.

"Yeah, sure. Sounds great," he replied with a smile. He closed the vidwindows and compressed his zip-board, which he had used as a makeshift chair, and walked out with AndrAIa.

A few microseconds later, the two sprites sat across from each other in the comfort of a booth at the diner. Each had an energy shake, and they casually sipped their beverage, simply enjoying each other's company.

"So what do you read about in there?" she asked.

"Just whatever," Enzo returned casually. "Sometimes I pick an article and read it. Other times I look for something specific."

"Like what?" asked AndrAIa.

Enzo began to get the distinct impression this was turning into a counseling session. "Just stuff I've always wanted to know about but never really looked into," said Enzo. "I can describe every classification of virus, game, or tear known to date," he said with a noticeable amount of pride. "I even brushed up on my COBAL a little."

"Not bad, Little Sparky," AndrAIa said. "Sounds to me like you're already on the fast track to the Guardian Academy."

"Do you really think so?" asked Enzo.

"That is what you want to do, isn't it?"

"Absolutely! I've always wanted to go to the Supercomputer to be a Guardian."

"It sounds like you're already pinning down the basics. Bob and Dot would be proud of you."

"Dot never wanted me to go to the Academy," Enzo said. "She would jump all over Bob for telling me stories about the Supercomputer. I guess she just didn't want me to leave."

"Things are different now, sweetie. I'm sure Dot wouldn't mind you becoming a Guardian if it's what you really wanted."

"It is," said Enzo. "It's what I've always dreamed about. I just wish Matrix would lighten up."

"I know Matrix has been keeping you out of games, but he's only looking out for you. I know this all seems unfair, Enzo, but we're only trying to protect you. We don't want you to get hurt."

"I know. I've heard the same speech from Dot a billion times. 'Stay out of games.' 'Games aren't fun, they're dangerous.' Yadda yadda yadda."

"Just wait until you get a little older, sweetie. You're only a little kid now. Give yourself some time to develop your skills first."

"The same danger will be there even when I'm older. And besides, how am I supposed to get good at playing games if I'm not allowed in them?"

"It's not just your age, Enzo. You need to give yourself a chance to be a kid first before you grow up all at once. You're lucky. Matrix and I spent most of our lives in the games trying to get back home. We didn't have much of a childhood."

"But AndrAIa, you wouldn't believe how bored out of my mind I am! I've been reduced to a fileworm to keep my sanity! I feel like I'm going to go eight-bit any second! We're talking a total mental crash! Random personified! I could —"

"Enzo!" said AndrAIa.

"Not working, is it?" asked the young sprite, deflated.

"Nice try, Little Sparky," AndrAIa said with a smirk. "Matrix was your age once, too, you know. I know all your little schemes."

Enzo let an exasperated sigh and slumped back down into his seat. "Figures."

"You know, Enzo, if you want I could help you."

Enzo eyed her curiously. "Help me how?"

"Sharpening your skills. I've been in enough games to be an expert. If you want to learn how to get better at playing games, I can teach you."

"Really? You mean it?"

"Absolutely."

"Gosh. I don't know what to say. Thanks, AndrAIa." The warm smile on the boy's face told her she had gotten through to him. She knew deep down Enzo was good enough to play in the games despite his age. Helping Enzo train would allow her to keep an eye on him and also give her a chance to make sure he didn't fall into the same traps his older self once had.

Neither of them noticed the two sprites that entered the diner, but the deep, country accent of one of them filled their ears with distinct recollection.

"Well I was hopin' to run into a few familiar faces!"

AndrAIa and Enzo turned to see Mouse grinning widely just slightly behind them.

"Mouse!" exclaimed AndrAIa as she rose from the booth to embrace the mercenary. "It's good to have you back."

They parted, and Mouse gave Enzo a loving hug as well. Ray walked up beside her and offered his greetings.

"What are you two doing back?" asked Enzo.

"We're only here for a short while, little mate," Ray said. "We just wanted to drop in and say 'ello to everyone."

"So tell me," said Mouse. "How are things in the old home place?"

"Could be better, but nobody's complaining," AndrAIa said. "Come on, let's sit down. I'll fill you in on everything. Hey Cecil — get us some energy shakes please."

* * *

Ever since the last incident with Megabyte, the Gateway Command had been safely locked away in the Core Room. The only people who had access were Phong, Dot, and Welman Matrix. Welman had been working in the Core Room most of the morning. He said he was running a few tests on the Gate's core programming, which was true, at least partly. He and Kevin collaborated shortly on a program which, theoretically, could enable communication between universes. The biggest obstacle was overcoming the time difference between worlds. Time within cyberspace ran at an accelerated rate compared to time in the physical universe. Kevin suggested quantum principles could be used to overcome the difficulty.

The Gateway Command could open a portal into the quantum computer system used by Kevin's experiment for digitization. Theoretically, the portal could be used to counter the time dilation through effects of special relativity. Since time moved at a slower rate for objects traveling at speeds close to light, it stood to reason that a portal could be manipulated to produce what was commonly known as a time dilation.

"We can counteract the time difference by altering the time frames between the two ends of the portal," Kevin explained. "If one end is held stationary while the other is accelerated to a velocity close to light, one end will exist in your time reference and the other will exist in mine."

"Interesting method," Welman said. "Naturally since time slows down at speeds close to light, relativity would cause a shift in the perspective of the progression of time. The only problem I foresee will be trying to control the enormous gravitational forces generated within the portal by the acceleration."

"That's where this program will come in," said Kevin. "We'll have to nail down the variables to an extreme degree of accuracy, but if we can calculate the g-forces acting within the portal then the Gateway could compensate by adjusting its energy output."

"Alright, let's get to work."

The program had been completed ever since Kevin left, but to fend off suspicion they agreed that a little time should pass before an actual test should be conducted. Now that Dot was back to work and he didn't have to keep a constant eye on her, he finally had a chance to give it a try. He inputted the coordinates of Kevin's computer into the console. To keep anyone from finding out, he kept the energy input just high enough to form a pico-sized portal. It would barely make a blip on the War Room's indicators. The ping function activated automatically and locked on. There was a small flash of light, fainter than a camera flash, and the program began to run. The rotational velocity of the portal began to rise at a steady rate. Finally, an indicator showed that the necessary conditions had been reached.

Welman leaned forward and spoke into a microphone on the console. He began transmitting his message, a stream of particles traversing across the very fabric of time and space. "This is Professor Welman Matrix calling Kevin Sawyer."

* * *

"Oh, the poor girl," said Mouse, referring to Dot. "Maybe I shouldn't have left when I did."

"No, it's not your fault, Mouse," Enzo said. "It was bound to happen sometime. But Dot's doing a lot better."

"Yeah, she started back to work this morning, in fact. You should go see her. I'm sure she'd love a visit."

"I think maybe I will," said Mouse. "By the way, how's Matrix likin' his position as Guardian?"

"I don't think he was ready for the responsibility, but he's come a long way," AndrAIa said. "He's pretty content."

"Now that's a word I'd never use to describe Matrix," said Ray.

"You'd be surprised, Ray. Matrix has calmed down a lot over the last minute."

"Has anyone heard from Bob?" asked Mouse.

"We spoke to him a few cycles ago," AndrAIa said. "He's working on testing his theories on viral rehabilitation. Last time we spoke he was really excited."

"Have he and Dot spoken any?" asked Mouse.

Enzo and AndrAIa looked at each other for a nano, then Enzo turned back and answered, "They've been avoiding each other like nulls avoid games."

"I see," said Mouse seriously. "Well, we'll just have to work on that."

* * *

In the control room of Project Virtual Man, Dr. Kevin Sawyer leaned forward in his seat, eagerly monitoring the computer screen of his station. The lines of data displayed the status of the computer core. He and Vivian were scanning the system specifically for quantum anomalies.

It was the very next day after his return. Despite it being the team's day off, he came in anyway so that, in the off chance he would find something, he could immediately begin trying to establish contact. Vivian volunteered her services the night before, and she met him in the control room that morning. They had been looking for over an hour with no sign of Welman.

"Are you sure they're supposed to contact you?" she asked.

"You're forgetting," said Kevin, "we're dealing with non-causal factors here. Time is moving at different rates for us. A nanosecond to us is a second for them, a second, a microsecond, an hour, a millisecond. Assuming it even worked at all, the time dilation will make it difficult to pin down an exact correlation. So it could be days before we detect something."

A message suddenly flashed onto the monitor. It read as a system error, but when the code was analyzed Vivian was shocked to find that it matched the mathematical wave function Kevin had given her.

"Kevin," she said, "I think we've found what you were looking for."  
Kevin pulled up the code and looked at it himself. Sure enough, it matched the exact mathematical parameters he and Welman calculated before he left.

"Bingo," he said. He immediately set to work on his keyboard. "Vivian, get ready to meet the neighbors."


	6. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4: New Faces

The voice of Welman Matrix was distinct through the speakers of the project control room.

"Kevin," said Welman through the com channel, "this is an amazing breakthrough."

"I know," Sawyer replied through a microphone on his computer station. "Welman, I'm here with several of my colleagues. I'd like to introduce them to you."

It had taken Vivian and Kevin the rest of the weekend to set up a means of two-way communication through the wormhole Welman made. Kevin's hopes were validated the instant Professor Matrix's first message came through the speakers. It proved that sending messages to and from the coexisting realities was possible. Now, with the successful establishment of two-way communication, Kevin could talk to Mainframe as if he were sitting in the War Room.

"There are other users there with you?" asked Welman.

"Yes," responded Kevin. "They're the team I worked with to build the teleporter. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Professor Welman Matrix of Mainframe."

Everyone was quite shocked at what they were hearing. When Tom entered the control room that morning to find Kevin and Vivian hard at work, he assumed they were checking the computer data from the last insertion. When Kevin told him what they were really up to, he thought his best friend had lost his mind. Then Kevin replayed the message from Welman and let him listen to it.

It was loud and clear. "This is Professor Welman Matrix calling Kevin Sawyer."

Tom was dumbfounded. He checked the data himself until he was sure of it. It was incredible. The transmission was originating from within the computer core. According to Kevin it was coming from a particle-sized wormhole.

"This is supposed to be coming from a parallel universe?" asked Sophie.

"A universe within the Internet, inside a computer," Kevin said.

"That's amazing," Tom said. "Wormholes are supposed to be unstable on the quantum level. How is it staying open?"

"Professor Matrix is feeding it discrete amounts of energy," Kevin said. "He invented a machine called a Gateway Command that could create wormholes."

"Who are you talking to, Kevin?" asked Welman.

"That was Dr. Tom Keller, Professor. The others with me are Vivian Thompson, Sophie Grant, and Kellous Scott."

"I'm very pleased to meet all of you," said Welman.

"The feeling is mutual, Professor," said Tom.

"Professor, this is Vivian Thompson. I'm a theoretical physicist. I would like to ask you a few questions about Mainframe if you don't mind."

"As long as I get to ask some questions about your universe as well, Dr. Thompson, I'd be delighted."

"First we need to work on getting a visual link established between us," Kevin said.

"Agreed," Welman replied. "I've been working on a prototype camera that could transmit visual images from Mainframe through the portal. I'll send you the schematics for it."

"Excellent, Welman," Kevin said. "Say, how's Enzo?"

Welman hesitated. "He's... not himself."

"Oh?"

"Ever since Bob went back to the Supercomputer he's been acting very depressed."

"Bob went to the Supercomputer? What for?"

"He's been testing his viral reprogramming theories," Welman explained. "Enzo is Guardian of the system now."

"Matrix, you mean? Guardian of Mainframe? Wow."

"Pardon me, gentlemen," said Sophie, "but would you mind explaining all this to those of us who don't understand a word you're saying?"

"Guardians are security programs that originate from the Pentagon supercomputer," said Kevin. "When I was in Mainframe I met two, Bob and a renegade named Enzo Matrix."

"Enzo is hardly a renegade," said Welman. "He's done a fine job so far."

"Well, good. I'm glad to hear it," said Kevin. "Welman, is it possible to transmit a data stream through the portal?"

"I believe it is stable enough. Why? Are you planning on coming back to Mainframe?"

"Yes. I only just got back but I'm already thinking of visiting again, possibly for a longer period."

"Kevin, you've been gone for a minute. How could you have just gotten back?"

"It's the time variation, I think. The wormhole is asynchronous with normal space-time, so it's possible we're experiencing an effect of relativity."

"What are you talking about?" asked Kellous.

"Time in virtual space moves at an accelerated rate compared to how we experience time in our universe," Kevin explained. "Welman opened a wormhole and created a time dilation so that the two different time frames could coincide."

"That's fantastic!" said Tom. "How did you compensate for the virtual particle intensity inside the wormhole?"

"Guys," said Kevin, "there will be plenty of time for questions after we establish a visual link with Mainframe."

"I may be able to make better progress on the camera if I had some help. Could your team build a similar version with the design specifications I send?"

Kevin turned around and they all nodded enthusiastically.

"You bet. I'll be back in Mainframe within the hour," Kevin said. After a pause he corrected himself. "I mean, millisecond."

* * *

The council chamber was moderately lit. A round conference table was positioned directly beneath a hanging light fixture, and several smaller point lights were positioned around the circumference of the room. Bob, Dale, and Otto were standing against the right wall of the room waiting for the Guardian Council to enter and take their seats.

It had been five seconds since the success at the lab, and the Collective was duly impressed by the work of the three sprites. The report was presented the day after Sasser's conversion. So far he displayed none of his previous viral tendencies and was currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation. It wasn't long after that when Dale told Bob and Otto that there was talk circulating about them receiving awards. Bob figured it was all merely rumor until Turbo personally sent him a message telling him to report to the Council's chamber room by 1400 at the end of the cycle. They were all nominated for the Pearson Medal of Excellence. It came as quite a shock to Bob since almost all of his theories were scoffed at ever since his days as a cadet. Then again, the evidence spoke for itself.

The chamber door opened and the members of the Guardian Council filed in. Bob, Dale, and Otto immediately snapped to attention as the members of the Council entered.

"At ease, gentlemen," said Guardian Queen. "Have a seat." They relaxed and took the chairs pointed out to them.

"The Prime Guardian should be here any nano," Queen said. "I've heard about the work your team has done, 452. Nice job."

"Thank you, sir," Bob replied. He smiled to himself. It was nice having his work appreciated after so long. It almost made the time he spent in the Web worth it.

An MP stepped into the camber, came to attention just to the right of the entrance, and said, "Stand by." A nano later, Turbo entered and the MP called out, "Room, tench hut!"

Everyone sitting quickly stood up at attention until Turbo said, "As you were."

All then returned to their seats and the MP exited.

"Gentlemen," Turbo said, addressing everyone in the room. "Today marks a vital breakthrough in our tactical approach to fighting viral agents. Thanks to the team effort of Guardian 452 and his group, we have developed more effective tools and methods of combating the menace which threatens our security. Today, we recognize the team whose outstanding contributions have made it possible for us to carry out our mission with greater ease and precision." Turbo then stood up and pushed in his chair.

"Guardian 322, front and center," Turbo ordered.

Dale got up and marched over to stand directly in front of Turbo. He popped a salute, Turbo returned it, and then both went back to attention. "Guardian 322, it is my pleasure to award you with the Pearson Medal of Excellence for your contributions to viral programming theory. Your dedication and skill have reflected well upon yourself and the Guardian Collective." Taking a bronze medallion from a wooden box sitting on the table, Turbo unfolded the ribbon and proceeded to place it over Dale's head.

The same procedure went for Otto. His contributions were made in the advancement of viral physiology and biology. After he received his medal, Otto stood to Dale's left.

Finally, Bob was called up.

"Guardian 452," Turbo began, "it is my distinguished honor to award you with the Pearson Medal of Excellence for your outstanding and numerous contributions to viral science." Bob lowered his head as the medallion was placed over his neck. "Congratulations, Bob," said Turbo. "You earned it."

"Thank you, Turbo," said Bob.

"And, in light of your hours of dedicated and outstanding service, and having performed above and beyond the call of duty on countless occasions, I herby promote you to the rank of Captain, Guardian Level 4. Effective immediately."

Turbo smiled at the look on Bob's face. This struck him like a bolt from the blue. It was completely unexpected. He quickly recovered from his surprise, and saluted Turbo.

Bob joined his colleagues, who were still standing slightly to the right of Turbo. There was applause and handshakes and small talk for a few microseconds afterwards.

"Congratulations, Captain," said Queen to Bob. "You earned it."

"Thank you, sir," Bob replied.

Bob was beside himself. He didn't know what to say. He was in the limelight for the first time in his career, and it felt new.

 _An award and a promotion all in the same day._ _Not bad for a radical thinker._

There was a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to face a female Guardian, shorter than himself by only half an inch. She had orange skin and crimson red hair cut off just above the neckline. Her eyes were a sparkling emerald green and her face was strikingly similar to Dixon Green's in several ways. For a nano he thought he was looking at a ghost.

"I wanted to offer my congratulations," she said, her hand extended. He grasped it firmly and shook it slowly. He was concentrating more on her face than the handshake, and she noticed. "You might want to take a JPEG, Captain. It'll last longer."

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry," he said, releasing her hand. "You look a lot like someone I used to know."

"I've been told I look a lot like my sister," she said.

"And who is your sister?" asked Bob.

"Dixie Green."

Bob's breath caught in his throat. He stared at the Guardian for a few more nanos before he resumed breathing. This caught him completely off guard. "I didn't know Dixie had a sister."

"Well, you do now," she said with a smile. "I'm Allison Green. Dixon was my older sister."

"I'm pleased to meet you," he said. "You kind of caught me off guard. I met your parents at the ceremony after your sister died. She was my mentor my last semester at the Academy."

"I know," Allison said. "She used to talk about you."

"Really?"

"She used to say you were the biggest dork ever to tread the halls of the Academy."

"Uh, huh," Bob said.

"But she also said you were the most promising cadet she ever taught. I know you impressed her."

"I'm glad I did," Bob said. "Your sister, she was a great teacher. I was fortunate to have her."

"I wanted to ask you about... about how she died," Allison said, her tone becoming morose. "I was never told. My parents still won't tell me. I know you were there when it happened."

Bob regarded the young woman for a few nanos. "Let's take a walk."

* * *

Frisket welcomed Matrix at the door when he came home that evening. AndrAIa was in the kitchen, whipping up a makeshift dinner for her and Matrix.

"That you, lover?" called AndrAIa to the garage.

"Yeah, it's me," replied the Guardian as he entered the kitchen. "There were a few tears that popped up in Baudway I had to mend." He came up behind his girlfriend and softly kissed her on the neck. "Sorry I'm late."

AndrAIa grinned. "You're forgiven."

Matrix disconnected Gun from its holster and plugged it into the charging port beside the kitchen sink and placed the stabilizer, a gadget with dimensions equivalent to a TV remote, in the drawer beside the charger. The stabilizer was a device specifically made to track and mend tears of almost any size. Phong and his father built it expressly for Matrix to use when a tear occurred.

The muscular sprite filed himself on the sofa and gave a contented sigh. Being Guardian of Mainframe was something he, at first, thought he could never get used to. It was not like he would have said no, though. Bob would not have asked Matrix to take the job if he wasn't sure he was ready. Matrix hadn't been sure if he could do it. He could never replace Bob, he knew. Being a Guardian had been his childhood dream, but Matrix's childhood was something he tried hard to bury.

Now, inadvertently, that dream had come true, and Matrix suddenly found himself with responsibilities he wasn't sure he could handle. AndrAIa helped eased the doubts he had. She was there to encourage him when he felt like he wasn't meeting expectations.

"What expectations?" she asked.

"I can't replace Bob. I'm never going to be as good as he is."

"You don't have to be as good as Bob. You expect too much of yourself. Bob wouldn't have given you the job unless he was sure you were up for it."

"I just don't want to disappoint him again."

"What makes you think you ever disappointed him?"

"AndrAIa, remember when we were little? Being a Guardian was all I ever wanted. Then when we started hopping from system to system I changed. I got disillusioned with being a Guardian."

"You don't think you deserve this? Is that it?" AndrAIa asked.

"Yeah. I guess."

She stroked his cheek gently with her index finger. "Matrix, we both did things we're not proud of, but we had to do them to get home. You may not be the little boy you used to be, but you're no less a hero."

Now, as he and AndrAIa sat down at the small dinner table in the kitchenette of their apartment, he felt this weird sense of reality set in. He was home. He was also the happiest he'd ever been. He and AndrAIa had their own place, he was Guardian of his home system, and he had his father back. AndrAIa was right, he had changed, but change never stopped. It was a continuous force that never ceased. Over the past minute he had changed even more. A piece of his former self had returned from the recesses of his soul, and he felt at peace.

"What are you thinking?" asked AndrAIa.

"What? Oh, it's nothing." He forked another chip and ate it.

"I know you better than that, lover. Come on, what's up?"

"I'm just thinking about how things are."

"Yeah? And?"

"And, nothing," he said. "I'm just... happy."

"And that makes you feel uncomfortable, doesn't it?"

"Not uncomfortable. It's weird, that's all. I'll get used to it." Matrix continued to eat.

"I hope so because there's going to be a little addition pretty soon."

"Addition? What kind of an addition?"

Frisket became curious as well and looked up at his masters.

"You know," AndrAIa said, "the bouncing kind."

Matrix's eyes widened. "A baby?" AndrAIa nodded and smiled. "Are you sure?" asked Matrix.

"I'm positive. Three cycles."

"Oh! Oh, man." Matrix jumped out of his seat and scooped her into his arms laughing. "Alphanumeric! I'm gonna be a dad!"

* * *

Pythias was at a loss for words. The Supercomputer was absolutely beautiful!

"I... I did not expect it to be so majestic," he said.

"Yes, it is impressive, isn't it," said Martin MacDonald. "The Supercomputer is a virtual work of art. Pity a machine like this is controlled by such a prosaic government."

Pythias turned to his creator. "I wish to explore."

"That's why I brought you here," said MacDonald. "I want you to go to Central Command, over there." He pointed to a large tower in the distance. "Within those walls are the main data archives. I want you to download all the information in those archives for me. Can you do that?"

"I can," Pythias said.

"I must warn you, Pythias. There will be people who will try and stop you. You must not let any of them get in your way. Do whatever is necessary to obtain the information."

"I will not fail, Father," said Pythias. The supervirus turned and lifted off into the air. He soared off in the direction of Central Command.

MacDonald smiled to himself. He reached into his jacket pocket and took out a small device. He pressed a button on its side and felt a wave of dizziness overtake him. The Supercomputer faded away, and he was adrift in an inky blackness for a few seconds before his sense of gravity and reality returned.

The headset was removed, and he opened his eyes. He was back in the laboratory. Of course, he never really left. His physical body stayed put; his mind, on the other hand, was what was projected into the Pentagon mainframe.

Slowly, he sat up. "We should know by now whether or not Pythias was successful," he said to Fletcher.

"Actually, sir, we have a problem," said the young computer scientist.

"What?" asked MacDonald.

"The Pentagon detected our breach of their security measures just when you pulled out. They've already sealed their system."

"Great. So we can't hack it again without risking them tracking us down." MacDonald pushed Fletcher aside and retrieved his tweed jacket.

"Sir, what do you want us to do?" asked Fletcher.

"Nothing," he said. "I want you to do nothing until I say so."

"But what about Pythias?"

"He'll just have to adapt. That's what we programmed him to do, isn't it? Now we get to see if he's worth the money we have invested in him."

* * *

Dot was reading over the recent upsurge in the Mainframe stock market when the entry bell to her office chimed.

"Come in," Dot said.

The door parted, and Mouse came inside. She smiled at her friend.

"Mouse!" Dot said, rising from her seat. "You're back!"

"Hello, sugah," Mouse said, embracing her friend. "How are ya?"

"I'm fine," said Dot. "I just came back from vacation. Can you believe it?"

"I'll bet they had to sedate you to get you out of the office," Mouse said playfully.

"Practically," Dot replied, motioning Mouse to a chair. "So how long are you in town?"

"Oh, you know me, sugah. I go wherever the data flows. I heard about what happened. Are you all right?"

"Honestly, I feel good. Not great, but good."

"And how are things with Bob?"

"I had a feeling you'd ask that."

"I kind of noticed a changing of the guard," Mouse said, referring to Matrix. "So what happened?"

"I... I messed up," Dot said. "I said something I didn't mean and he went back to the Supercomputer."

"Is he coming back?"

"I don't know. We heard from him a few cycles ago, but I couldn't talk to him."

"Look, Dot, it's time to get over this guilt trip you put yourself on. You've gotta know you're not just hurting yourself."

"I know. I can only imagine what he feels like."

"So call him," Mouse said. "Tell him to come home."

"Do you think he would? After everything I did to him?"

"I know one thing, you two were programmed for each other, and I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't try my dangdest to get you off your ASCII and call him."

Dot smiled at Mouse's words. "Okay, Mouse. I'll give it a try."

"That's my girl."

* * *

Bob and Allison walked into the main lobby of Central Command. They had already spent nearly a millisecond talking about Dixon. Allison was young when her sister was deleted and remembered only a few things about her. Because Dixon was a Guardian, she rarely ever got to see her family. Bob was beside himself in all this. Dixie never talked about her family. Bob recalled how distanced Dixon was. Their relationship was strictly teacher and pupil, and they rarely talked outside of their training sessions. Allison wanted to know what her older sibling was like as a Guardian.

"When she was home, she always liked to take me to movies. That was our thing," Allison said as they walked.

"I didn't know Dixie liked movies," Bob said.

"When we were little sprites we used to dress up and act out different scenes from our favorites."

"Sounds like you and your sister were close."

"We were, for a while anyway. After she got accepted to the Academy I rarely got to see her anymore. But when I did see her she would occasionally let me play with Glitch."

Bob looked at his Keytool, remembering how he had come into possession of it and of all the things they had been through together. Those days were long past, it seemed.

"You know, I got Glitch from your sister."

"I figured you did," Allison said. "I hope I'm chosen once I graduate."

Bob eyed her curiously. "You're still in the Academy?"

"My senior hour," she said.

"Then why are you doing active security duty?"

"I got accepted for early commissioning. I completed security training last semester."

"That's impressive. Most of the cadets who apply get rejected. You must be good."

"Good enough, apparently."

They walked a few more steps in silence before Bob asked his next question.

"Why weren't you at her ceremony?" asked Bob.

"My parents didn't let me come," Allison said. "They didn't want me to be traumatized or something basic like that. No one has ever told me how she was deleted."

Bob stopped, and Allison halted with him. In the light of the lobby Bob's face seemed to be made of stone. He was seriously thinking of not telling her, but how could he deny her something like this? He faced Allison, saw that she desperately wanted to know, and decided right away.

"Allison, you sister..." He took a deep breath. "Your sister died protecting me." Allison stood transfixed, staring at Bob with locked attention. "We were in the deletion chamber, about to send another virus in. Something happened. The virus upgraded, and I tried to fight it off, but instead I ended up on the floor. She held it off long enough until a portal from another system took him away. But by then it had drained her energy. She erased a few nanos after I regained consciousness."

Slowly, she allowed his words to penetrate into her processor. Bob could tell she was trying to be strong.

"I... I never knew she died like that," said Allison. "Thanks for telling me."

Bob placed a hand on her shoulder. "Dixon was one of the bravest sprites I ever knew. You should be proud of her."

"I am," she said with a half smile.

The moment was interrupted when Glitch beeped an indicator for an incoming communication. "I'm sorry," said Bob. "Give me a nano?"

"Sure."

Bob stepped to one side and opened the channel. Another surprise was dealt to the Guardian when Dot appeared on Glitch's enlarged circular screen.

"Hi, Bob," she said.

"Dot? Hi. How are you?"

"I've been better. I just wanted to call and see how you were."

"Well... I'm fine, actually," he said. "My experiment worked."

"You mean you actually did it?"

"Hex was the key, Dot," Bob said. "I was able to duplicate what happened to her here in the Supercomputer."

"Bob, that's... that's great! I guess congratulations are in order."

"Trust me, Dot, I've gotten plenty of that. I don't think I can take much more." There was a silent pause of a few nanoseconds before Bob spoke again. "So, how are you?"

"Good," she said. "I just got back from a vacation." Her tone became a bit sarcastic with her next statement. "Well, it was kind of a vacation."

Suddenly, an alarm blared throughout the Central Command center. Red lights began flashing, and a prerecorded voice called out, "Intruder alert! Viral presence detected. All personnel respond."

"Bob, what's happening?" asked Dot.

Allison said, "Internal sensors have been tripped. There's a virus in the Supercomputer."

"Dot, I'm sorry, but I've got to go. I'll call you back."

Bob closed the channel and turned to Allison. "Up for a little hand-to-hand?"

She gave him a confident smirk. "Always."

"Good. Let's do it."

* * *

Pythias landed outside the Central Command center. There was a force field in operation around the building. He tentatively reached out and touched it, receiving a slight shock. It was a rudimentary energy projection grid. With the slight touch Pythias adapted to its frequency and amplitude modulation. He altered his own body's electromagnetic field to match that of the shield and walked right through as if it were thin air.

A team of Guardians were already stationed at the entrance with energy rifles at the ready.

"You are in violation of Guardian Statute 0779. Cease and pause or you will be deleted," said one of the Guardians.

Pythias ignored their threat. He had a job to do, and he was not going to let anything or anyone stop him. He continued to approach the entrance.

"Okay, take him down!"

Energy pulsed rained upon Pythias's body. Each one that hit he absorbed, amplifying his energy reserve.

"He's energy absorbing. Switch to hard-light!"

The Guardians activated the hard laser functions on their weapons and began firing solid beams of green at the virus. This seemed to affect him more than the energy pulses. The solid light lasers impacted hard upon his body, bringing him pain. He halted briefly and created a skin-tight energy field around his body's surface to counter the lasers. Once the weapons were again rendered ineffective he continued to approach the entrance.

"It's no good. He's adapted to the lasers. Alert Turbo!"

Before any more action could be taken, Pythias extended his hands and emitted a force burst of green energy. The Guardians were overpowered by the immense energy field and collapsed in unconsciousness. Pythias regarded his adversaries with curiosity for a moment, then continued inside.


	7. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5: Return of The Virtual Man

Kelly Cleaver walked into the control room unannounced. To her surprise she found Kevin Sawyer already in his pressure suit.

"Miss Cleaver," said Kevin less than enthusiastically, "what an unexpected surprise."

"You seem to be already prepared, Doctor," said Cleaver. "How did you know?"

"Know? Know what?" asked Kevin, slightly confused.

"We need to send you into the Pentagon mainframe. There's been a breach of security. We think whoever implanted Daemon just implanted another supervirus."

Kevin's attitude quickly turned from one of pessimism to concern. "When was this?"

"Almost an hour ago. We can't risk another incident like Daemon happening again. You're the best person for the job."

Kevin gave a sigh of disappointment. "Alright, what am I supposed to do?"

"Go in, destroy the virus, and see if there is any evidence left behind from the hacker that may give us a clue to his identity or how to find him."

"How long do I have?" asked Sawyer.

"Take as long as you need. The President still hasn't given Virtual Man umbra level status yet, so we would consider this a personal favor."

"Personal favor?" asked Kevin cynically. "Fine, then. Give me five minutes, and I'll be in the chamber."

Cleaver nodded and Kevin turned to Tom.

"Looks like we're going to have to change your travel plans," Tom said.

"No, don't," said Kevin. "Send me to Mainframe just as we planned."

"Are you going to ignore the virus in the Pentagon mainframe?"

"Of course not. But didn't you hear her? It's been an hour since the virus was implanted. The wormhole in the computer acts like a conduit back through time. If I go into Mainframe through the portal, I can intercept the virus just as he enters the system."

"Okay, whatever you say," Tom said.

Vivian approached Kevin and Tom. "The retrieval module has been programmed," she said. Kevin held out his arm and Vivian attached the module to his wrist. "You're all set. Say hello to Welman for us."

"You bet. Is the kit ready?"

"We've equipped the case with the usual goodies," said Vivian. "We replaced the pistol with the type-one prototype. It uses up more juice, but it should be enough. Try not to lose this one, please."

"I'll try. I'll see you guys when I get back. Be sure to start working on the camera as soon as I leave. I may be gone a while."

"Good luck," Tom said.

Kevin exited the control room and walked down the adjoining hall to the entrance for the laboratory. When he entered, a technician handed him his helmet, and he locked it in place over his head. Two other techs assisted with securing the equipment backpack. When everything was done the head technician gave a thumbs-up to the control room.

The machine was all ready. As Sawyer stepped inside, and as the airlock door closed he heard a familiar little voice in the back of his mind remind him of the incredible danger he was flirting with. This was his second digital teleport in the last forty-eight hours and although Scott's medical examination cleared him of medical defects he still did not want to push his luck. At the same time, though, his sense of adventure made the danger seem insignificant.

"All systems are go, Kevin," said Tom. "We're ready for digital insertion."

"Set countdown," said Kevin. "I'm ready."

The pitch of the laser's hum increased as electricity was fed to them. The seconds were stretched into minutes as Kevin awaited the final moment when he would be miraculously transported into cyberspace once again.

"Countdown T-minus ten seconds... nine... eight... seven..."

* * *

Welman waited patiently as he monitored the energy readings from the Gateway. An alarm sounded from the console as a spike was detected.

There was a bright flash of light, and Welman turned to face the Gateway. A body was forming from a cloud of flickering particles in front of the Gateway Command. After a few nanoseconds, Kevin Sawyer stood fully materialized in the Core Room.

"Kevin!" said Welman as the cybernaut removed his helmet. "Welcome back."

"No time, Welman," said Kevin urgently. "We've got trouble. I need to get to the Supercomputer ASAP."

* * *

Dot didn't know what happened. One nano she was talking to Bob, the next he cut her off. There had been an alarm in the background, and she heard someone say that a virus was in the Supercomputer. Dot's right hand balled into a fist for a moment. If it wasn't games, it was viruses. If it wasn't viruses it was fear of commitment.

 _Spam! Why can't things ever be simple between us?_

"Problems, sugah?" asked Mouse.

"I think there's a virus in the Supercomputer. Bob had to cut me short to go take care of it."

"Did you say there was a virus in the Supercomputer?" asked Mouse. "That's strange. The Supercomputer has the most powerful virus protection in the Net."

"Do you think something might be wrong?" asked Dot.

"Don't worry, darlin'. Bob's a big sprite. I'm sure whatever it is, he and the Guardians can take care of it."

A vidwindow opened and Specky's troubled face appeared on the screen from the War Room. "Commander, sir, ma'am, you'd better get out here."

"What is it, Specky?" Dot asked.

"Come see for yourself." The vidwindow abruptly closed.

Mouse and Dot both exchanged quizzical looks as they rose from their chairs and entered the War Room. Both women were shocked when they saw Dr. Kevin Sawyer standing before them in his orange pressure suit. Standing beside him was Professor Matrix.

"Dr. Sawyer? What are you doing back in Mainframe?" asked Dot.

"We have a situation in the Supercomputer, Dot. I'm going to need help. Is Matrix around?"

"Wait a nano," Dot said impertinently. "Explain to me what's going on first."

"A new supervirus has invaded the Supercomputer. My people think it was implanted by the same person who programmed Daemon."

The news had a noticeable impact on Dot. Her whole manner changed in an instant. "How long since it got in?" she asked.

"By your time, just a few microseconds, which means we can still stop it before it has a chance to do any real damage."

Dot turned to Mouse. "Are you up for a little excursion?" asked Dot.

"Anytime, anywhere, sugah," replied the hacker.

"Good. Find Ray. Get him here. I'll find Matrix. Dad, get Dr. Sawyer some clothes. I assume you came armed?"

"Yes," said Sawyer.

"Okay. You'll go in Mouse's ship with Matrix and Ray. Your best bet is to find Bob. Wherever he is, you'll find your virus."

 _Please let him be all right_ , Dot prayed.

Not ten microseconds later Kevin was wearing comfortable jeans and a white button down T-shirt, standing in the P.O. landing bay. He checked his laser pistol's battery. It was fully charged, but instead of the sixty or seventy shots he could have gotten with the type-two prototype, which he lost on his last journey to Mainframe, he was reduced to twenty or thirty with the type-one. Welman had been kind enough to synthesize a holster for it, and it was now secured to his hip.

Kevin recalled days from his youth when his father, an Air Force colonel, had taken him and his older brother, Kyle, to the shooting range to practice shooting a Beretta 9-mm. His shooting skills were rusty, but with a little practice he could regain most of his training.

"Well, Doc," said Ray Tracer, "ready to get movin'?"

"Absolutely," said Kevin. "Where's Matrix?"

"He's right here," came the renegade's gruff voice.

Kevin turned to find Matrix marching toward him from the elevator. His appearance had subtly changed. He seemed less fierce, but no less dangerous. In place of his leather vest was a black crewneck T-shirt. He was clean-shaven, but he still had his earring, and Gun was securely strapped to his upper right leg. Kevin took it as a good sign that he hadn't pulled it on him yet.

"Matrix," Kevin said in greeting. He held out an open hand, but Matrix made no sign of accepting it. He just fixed him with a contemptuous stare. After a few nanos Kevin casually let it drop.

"Look at it this way," said Ray, "at least he didn't delete you."

Mouse called from the cockpit of Ship. "Alright, boys, let's head out! We ain't got all second!"

A few microseconds later the system of Mainframe was beneath them. Mouse made a wide turn back towards the Principal Office, guiding towards the sub-sphere. It opened up, revealing a tear. Phong appeared on the screen in the cockpit.

"Tear has been released. Initializing stabilization field."

The fluctuating ball of energy became a portal the next nanosecond. The image of the Supercomputer was evident in the background.

"Portal stable," said Phong. "You may proceed. Good luck."

Mouse hit the thrusters, and they entered the portal.

* * *

Allison and Bob took positions across from one another in the hallway. Green was armed with a standard-issue disruptor. Bob issued a mental command to Glitch for the wide-field energy beam function. They heard the footsteps of the approaching virus echo off the walls. Its shadow extended into their line of sight. Bob looked and nodded to Green, who nodded back. When Bob gave the signal they stepped into the middle of the hall, their weapons aimed.

"I am Guardian 452," said Bob. "Halt immediately."

The virus complied, giving both Bob and Allison a quick biological scan.

"Sprite, male. Approximate age v.2.6. Guardian protocol detected." He turned to Allison. "Sprite, female. Approximate age v.2.1. Guardian protocol detected. You will stand aside."

The virus's voice was deep and commanding. He was at least as muscular as Matrix, his skin was a pale violet, and his hair was light green. Both Bob and Allison noticed a resemblance to Daemon.

"State your name and function," said Bob.

"I am Pythias. I have no function."

Allison whispered, "Could he be malfunctioning?"

"I don't know."

"You will stand aside and let me complete my mission," commanded Pythias.

"And just what is you mission, virus?" asked Allison indignantly.

"I must retrieve information from the archives."

"That's not going to happen," said Bob.

"Then you leave me no choice." Pythias's eyes glowed a menacing green and he began to advance.

"Try to leave him processing if you can," said Bob to Allison.

They opened fire. Glitch's energy pulses were simply absorbed by the approaching supervirus while Allison's hard laser beam was deflected by his energy field.

"We may have a problem," said Allison.

"I think it's time to exercise the better part of valor," Bob said. "Run!"

Bob and Allison turned and sprinted down the hall towards the main lobby.

"Glitch, patch me through to Turbo," Bob said as they were running.

"Bob, what's going on?" asked the Prime Guardian once the channel was open.

"Turbo, we've got a Class 9 virus inside Central," Bob explained.

"A supervirus? Bob, we don't have anything that can defend against something like that."

"I know. I recommend transferring all central functions to the auxiliary command center immediately."

After the incident with Daemon, it was decided that in case of another supervirus attack, a backup system should be available to transfer all vital command functions to so as to prevent the Supercomputer from falling under complete control of an invader. It was hoped that it would never have to be used, but now it seemed as if the Guardians' worst fears were coming true.

"Agreed. I'll authorize the transfer. You get out of Central now."

"No way. Green and I will stay here and hold him off until you complete the transfer."

"Bob!" Bob closed the channel before Turbo could say another word.

They reached the main lobby. Allison accessed a control panel and activated the security doors for the entrances.

"That'll keep him busy for a few microseconds, but not much after that," said Allison.

"It'll have to do until Turbo transfers the main functions to the auxiliary system," said Bob.

"What are we supposed to do until then?" asked Allison.

A heavy fist made forceful contact with the metal of the security door. Bob and Allison turned and saw where a dent had formed. Then another forceful blow met the door.

"He's trying to punch through," said Allison. "Why doesn't he use his energy powers?"

"He may not know how to use them," said Bob. "He could have deleted us a microsecond ago but didn't."

"So what do we do?" asked Allison.

Bob was silent. _I wish I knew._

* * *

Mouse maneuvered her ship above the Central Command center. The shields were active, preventing her from immediately landing. The hacker began interfacing with the Guardian security systems, and within nanoseconds the shield disappeared and the ship glided to a soft landing in front of the main entrance.

Kevin already had his portable scanner out, taking readings.

"I'm detecting the virus," he said. "It's thirty yards ahead, directly inside that building."

"Well, let's go introduce ourselves," said Ray as he leapt onto his surfboard.

Mouse and Matrix decompressed their zip-boards and hopped on, leaving Sawyer embarrassingly grounded.

"Bring an extra one of those?" asked Kevin.

Mouse looked to Matrix, who sighed and threw him one. Kevin decompressed it and stepped on.

"Think you can handle one?" asked Matrix.

He didn't give Kevin time to answer. He raced through the entrance and down the hall with the others following.

Kevin tried to mimic Matrix and leaned the pads at an angle behind him. There was a thrust of forward motion and he tried to balance himself and steer through the door.

 _They make this look so easy_ , he thought.

* * *

The door took its last blow and came crashing down at the feet of Bob and Green. Pythias marched into the main lobby.

"Your attempts to hinder me are useless," said the supervirus. "You will surrender and stand aside."

"And let you into the archives?" Bob said. "I don't think so."

"Then you leave me no choice," Pythias said. His eyes began to glow, but a blue energy burst knocked him to the ground.

"Matrix!" Bob exclaimed.

The maverick Guardian lowered his weapon and glided the rest of the way into the room with Mouse and Ray close behind. "Need a little help, Bob?" he asked.

"You could say that," replied Bob. "Your timing couldn't be better."

Mouse and Ray stepped onto the floor and approached the virus. Sawyer glided into the room, making a rather goofy attempt at staying balanced.

"Hey, how do you stop this crazy thing?" he called.

Bob acted quickly. "Glitch, tractor beam." The Keytool projected a yellow energy beam and captured Sawyer, bringing him to Bob.

"Need a hand?" asked Bob.

"Thank you," replied Sawyer. The zip-board compressed and Sawyer touched down on the floor.

"Nice to see you again, Kevin," said Bob.

"Likewise, Bob. I wish my trip here was under better circumstances."

"I take it then you're back because of this guy," Bob said, looking over towards where Pythias lay.

Ray and Mouse were standing over him.

"He's out cold, mate," said Ray.

"That's weird," said Green. "He was pretty resilient a few microseconds ago."

"I hit him with my most powerful energy grenade," said Matrix. "It should have deleted him."

Kevin pulled out his scanner and walked over to crouch down next to the unconscious virus. He scanned it, storing the data in the scanner's memory.

"This is interesting," said Kevin as he read the data on the screen. "Bob, you'd better come take a look at his."

"What is it, Doc?" asked Mouse.

"I'm picking up very complex synaptic patterns. His brain is still active," said Kevin.

"That's not unusual," said Green. "Viruses have a neural net not unlike sprites."

"This isn't a neural net like any sprite or virus," said Kevin. "Physiology isn't my field, but I know a human nervous system when I see one."

"You mean he was modeled off of a user?" asked Bob.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Whoa, now that's the statement of the hour," said Allison.

"Let's just say I have some experience with users," said Kevin. "And you are?"

"Guys," said Bob, "this is Guardian Allison Green. Allison, these are Matrix, Mouse, Ray, and Kevin Sawyer. They're from the system I was assigned to. It's a good thing you showed up when you did. I think he was about to delete us."

"Bob," came Turbo's voice from Glitch, "status report."

"It's okay, Turbo," Bob said into Glitch. "The virus has been subdued. You can send a team from detention to pick him up."

"By the code, Bob, I almost thought we were going through Daemon all over again," said the Prime Guardian.

"Not this time. Send a security team to the main lobby right away."

"You got it." The channel closed.

"Bob," said Kevin, "I'd like to study this virus more closely. It may reveal who programmed him and why."

"He identified himself as Pythias," said Allison. "He also said he didn't have a defined function. I figured he may have been malfunctioning."

Kevin seemed not to hear the second part of her statement. His eyes were unfocused, staring into empty space. There was an expression of revelation in his features.

"Doc, what's the matter?" asked Ray. "You look like you've swallowed a null."

"Are you familiar with ancient Greek mythology?" he asked.

"Can't say that I am," replied the Surfer.

"There's an ancient Earth legend about two men named Damon and Pythias who were best friends. I can't recall the exact details, but in the story Pythias offered his life so that Damon could be spared from the wrath of a horrible beast. The beast was so impressed with Pythias's show of nobility that he gave him the chance to save Damon's life by completing a dangerous task. In the end, both men walked away free."

"You're thinkin' this virus is related to Daemon somehow?" asked Mouse.

"I wouldn't exclude the possibility," replied the scientist. "My readings clearly show that we're dealing with a sophisticated artificial intelligence similar to Daemon."

"It certainly didn't act like a supervirus. It barely used any of its higher power functions," said Allison.

"Maybe it just needed more energy, and it was going to get it from you two," Matrix suggested.

"Possibly," said Bob. "We won't know until we examine him... AHHH!"

There were moans of agony from everyone as a green field of energy surrounded them all. Every vein in their bodies seemed to freeze, their bodies subjected to an intense cold. Their muscles felt frozen and locked. It was horrible.

When the field disappeared, they collapsed to the floor. Pythias was standing again like an angel of vengeance. He stepped over them and continued toward the elevator doors.

Matrix had enough strength to raise his gun and fire another energy grenade. It was absorbed by Pythias's energy field effortlessly. The virus didn't even seem to notice as he reached for the call button.

Kevin decided it was time to oil his rusty shooting skills. He pulled out his own weapon and aimed for the shoulder. He didn't want to kill the virus yet, just incapacitate him. His target acquired, Kevin pulled the trigger and a blue beam of laser light sliced right through Pythias's right shoulder.

The virus screamed in agony. He leaned against the elevator doors for support. He had never before felt such pain. It was terrible. Nothing could have prepared him for what he now felt. Before Sawyer could get off another shot the doors opened, and the virus fell inside the lift. The doors then closed, the virus gone.

"Ohh, great," Kevin moaned. It was the last thing he said before he passed out.

Matrix was still suffering the effects from the energy field, but his extreme stamina helped overcome the aftereffects. He reached for the communicator on Gun's magazine and pressed the face to activate the emergency signal.

Almost an instant later a portal from the Gateway Command spun into existence and engulfed them, carrying them back to Mainframe.

* * *

Pythias's breath hissed through his clenched teeth as he tightly closed his eyes and tried to think of something, anything else besides the pain in his shoulder. Hot tears rolled down his face. His adaptation powers were apparently not as fast as he thought. Now he was in agony, and more than anything he wished it would just stop. Every time he tried to move his right arm a shooting pain would wrack him to the core. He stayed absolutely still and tried to concentrate on healing the wound.

His father, Martin, had told him that if he concentrated long enough on a particular action he would be able to create new functions for almost any situation. Right now he concentrated on healing the damage done to his body. As he began to control his breathing, his thoughts became clearer and more focused. Slowly, he began to feel a tingling sensation around the wound. Soon, the pain vanished and he was able to move his limb without any discomfort. He reached and touched the spot where the wound had been. There was no scorched flesh and no leaking energy. The skin was completely healed and the fabric of his tunic had been repaired as well.

Revitalized, the supervirus stood up and caught his second wind. When the doors opened he stepped into a brightly lit passage. He walked to the end where he was blocked by another force field, behind which was a heavy security door. Pythias reached out and sent a feedback pulse into the field, shorting it out. The security door was even less of a problem. In the same way he healed himself earlier Pythias focused his energy projection powers on the obstruction and sent a humongous bolt into the barrier. It practically vaporized from the intensity of the attack, and Pythias walked unheeded into the Guardian Archives.


	8. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6: The Unusual Suspects

The first thing Bob became aware of when he awoke was that he was no longer in the Supercomputer. The next thing that became apparent was the intense pounding in his head. It felt like he had downed a dozen I/O shots and was now suffering from the worst hangover a person could possibly experience. He winced and moaned pitifully as he opened his eyes and the bright light of the room intensified his headache.

He heard a voice say, "Phong, Bob's awake." It sounded like Dot's voice, but it was distant.

"Dot?" he managed to say hoarsely. He tried to raise his head to see where the voice had come from, but it felt as if it had come unscrewed from his neck and he clumsily let it fall back onto the pillow.

"I'm here," said Dot. Bob felt a hand slip into his and another rest on his chest. He squeezed her hand in response, glad to be with her again. He opened his eyes and saw her standing over him.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi, yourself," she said with a half smile.

"What happened?"

"You're back in Mainframe," said Dot. "Matrix activated an emergency signal, and I had my father bring you all back with the Gateway."

"I feel like I've had my skull fragged," Bob said as he made an attempt to sit up. Dot helped to balance him as he tried to get upright. His hands went to his temples and began a circular massaging motion while Dot moved in front of him.

Phong came over to the side of the medical bed and asked, "You are very lucky, my son."

"I don't feel lucky," Bob replied.

"Nevertheless, you should count your blessings. Had Welman not brought you all back when he did you might have suffered irreversible neural damage. The energy field you were subjected to disrupted your central nervous system. It prevented your body from receiving electrical impulses from your brain, effectively paralyzing you."

"Phong," Bob said tiredly, "could you please give me something for this headache before you give me another one?"

"Oh! Oh, yes, of course." Phong opened his torso drawer and pulled out an injection gun, inserted a vile of liquid, and injected Bob with the serum. The Guardian felt an instant relief of pressure in his head.

"Thanks, Phong," he said. Bob looked around and saw Kevin and Allison were still unconscious and lying on two other medical beds. "Are they all right?"

"I managed to stabilize their vital signs," said Phong. "We have been waiting for them to regain consciousness on their own."

"What about Matrix, Mouse, and Ray?"

"Mouse and Ray left only a few microseconds ago," Phong said. "Matrix was the least affected by the attack. He is a most resistant sprite."

"More like just plain stubborn," Bob said. "What about Turbo? The Supercomputer?"

"We notified Turbo that we had you and Green," said Dot. "He's expecting your call any nano."

"The supervirus didn't infect the Supercomputer?" asked Bob.

"No," Dot said. "And you're lucky he didn't infect you."

"In that case I consider my blessings counted," said Bob. "I need to talk with Turbo as soon as possible."

"Phong," Dot asked, "is Bob well enough to leave?"

"I believe so. Try not to strain yourself too much, my son. You still need to rest. I will remain here and watch over Dr. Sawyer and Guardian Green."

"I'll take care of him," said Dot. "Come on, Bob. Let's get you to the War Room."

Bob tried to stand, but his balance was still off and Dot grabbed his arm to steady him. With her help, Bob walked out of the infirmary, and they slowly made their way toward the elevator near the end of the hall. As they approached the end of the corridor Bob began to regain his balance.

"I think I'm starting to feel better," said Bob.

"That's good," Dot said. "So what are we dealing with? Can you tell me anything?" _You dipswitch. Can't you talk to him about anything other than tactical data?_

"I'm not sure," Bob said. "This virus doesn't fit the usual profile. Kevin thinks he may come from the same viral strain as Daemon, possibly a brother."

"Sounds like we have our hands full again," Dot said morosely.

They reached the elevator and Dot pressed the call button. The doors immediately opened and they stepped inside. Dot pressed the button for the level of the War Room, and an uncomfortable silence followed as they waited.

Frustrated, Dot shattered the silence. "I hate this."

"I know. If Pythias is Daemon's brother then we're —"

"Not that. This," Dot said. "I hate not being able to talk to you. It's like there's a space between us."

Bob looked at Dot for a moment, then reached and pressed the halt button. They both felt the lift come to a stop.

"Okay, Dot," Bob said, "what do you want to talk about?"

Dot could feel her composure begin to slip. "Us," she said.

"I thought there was no 'us.'"

Dot nervously looked at the floor. "I lied," she said.

Dot turned to face him. Bob saw a familiar tenderness in her eyes, a compassion he knew had been buried for a long time. It was a pleasant thing to see after the cold treatment he had received the last time they spoke.

Dot began slowly, "Bob, what you said last time... you were right... right about everything," she said. "I was afraid to be happy. I thought... I didn't deserve it."

"And now?" he asked as he took a step closer to her.

Dot could hear the gentleness in his tone, and she felt her body respond to his proximity. Her heart was beginning to race, and she thought she might loose her nerve.

 _Don't even think about it_ , she demanded of herself.

She swallowed her pride and fears with one more anxious gulp before continuing. "Now... things are different. I don't... I don't want to be friends."

"Neither do I," Bob said gently, closing the distance even more. Dot noticed his chest was heaving. "So where does that leave us?"

Their eyes were locked with a desperate intensity building between them. Their faces inched closer together. Bob noticed her eyes drift closed as he tentatively captured her lower lip. He slowly drew away to see if she would reject him, but instead he felt her hands move up his chest to his shoulders and pull him back to her. Bob possessively took her in his arms, bringing his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. He felt her respond with equal zeal, pressing her mouth into his. Dot's head was swimming in a world of bliss. She felt his hands move up her back sending shivers up her spine.

Neither sprite knew how long the kiss lasted, but each would have agreed it was not long enough. When they parted for breath they held each other closely, both breathing laboriously. Dot rested her head on his chest, allowing Bob to breathe in the wonderful scent of her hair.

"I've missed you," he said.

"I missed you, too. So much," replied Dot.

They stood embracing one another as nanoseconds passed, simply enjoying the feeling of their bodies being close. For the first time since he left Mainframe, Bob felt truly happy. This was the Dot he fell in love with, the Dot who wasn't afraid to feel, who was compassionate and warm. She no longer seemed cold and calculating like the way the Viral Wars had made her. Her barriers were down, and he felt like he could actually get close to her again.

"I'm sorry I sent you away," Dot said.

"It's okay, Dot. What matters is that were together now. We don't have to fight each other anymore."

They kissed again, slowly, savoring every sensation that came to them. When they separated again, they both suddenly remembered they were expected in the War Room.

"We should probably get going," said Bob.

"Yeah, we probably should," Dot said. Without disentangling herself completely from his hold, Dot pressed the hold button and released the lift.

As they started to move again, Bob began smiling. "You know Mouse will never let us live this down."

Dot looked up at him and grinned. "I think I can live with that."

* * *

"I'm telling you, Phong," said Kevin. "I feel fine."

Kevin's protests went unheeded as the old sprite waved a scanner across his body.

"Your physiology is still strange to me, Dr. Sawyer. I cannot be sure you are not still in danger," he explained.

"Did it ever occur to you that I just may bounce back easily?"

"Since we have little data on users I am inclined to believe my scans. Oh, no offense, of course."

"None taken," breathed Sawyer as he laid his head back down.

Phong grabbed a vidpad and glided into one of the adjoining rooms.

"Restless?" asked Green.

Kevin propped himself up on his elbow and said, "I hate hospitals."

"Bad childhood experience?"

"You could say that," Kevin replied. Then he sighed and laid back down.

"Why did he imply you were a user?" she asked.

Kevin cursed inwardly. He totally forgot Green was in the room when he and Phong were talking.

"It's just kind of an inside joke between us, that's all," said Sawyer.

"Care to elaborate?" asked Green. "I love a good laugh."

Green wasn't falling for it. She was sharp, and Kevin was not going to escape this easily. Luckily, Phong came back with his vidpad in hand before she could ask any more questions.

"Kevin, I am pleased to inform you that you are free to go," said Phong.

"At last!" Sawyer got off the bed and quickly made for the door, but he stopped immediately when he heard Phong release Allison Green as well.

"I would recommend the two of you do not overexert yourselves for a few cycles. If you have any more trouble, do not hesitate to call me."

"Thanks, Phong," said Allison with a grateful smile.

"Bob should be in the War Room," he said.

"I guess that's where we should be too," said Kevin. "Come on, Allison, I'll take you there."

They left the infirmary and walked toward the elevator.

"So how do you know Bob?" asked Green.

"We met a few cycles ago. I helped him out with a virus problem."

"Sounds interesting," she replied as they reached the elevator, and he pressed the call button.

"Interesting doesn't even begin to describe it," said Kevin. The doors opened and they stepped inside. They continued their conversation as the elevator approached the War Room level. "Trying to outsmart a genocidal sociopath with Trojan horse powers isn't something I'd care to repeat."

"Really? Sounds like fun to me."

Kevin looked at Green with a perplexed stare. "Are you serious?"

"Sure," she said. "Aren't you?"

Kevin picked up on the subtle intonation of her vice. She was jerking him around like he had done in the infirmary. Unable to come up with a reply, he just faced forward and remained silent.

* * *

When Bob and Dot entered the War Room everyone noticed how comfortable they seemed. AndrAIa caught a twinkle in Bob's eye, then saw a slight flush to Dot's cheek.

The game sprite smiled inwardly. _Looks like absence really does make the heart grow fonder_ , she thought. "Good to have you back home, Bob," said AndrAIa as she gave him a tender hug.

"It's good to be home," Bob responded. "I'm sorry I got you all involved in this."

"Hey, what are friends for?" asked Matrix. "Besides, it's not your fault. If it hadn't been for Sawyer we wouldn't have known about Pythias in the first place."

"How is the Doc anyway?" asked Ray.

"Still unconscious when we left," said Dot. "Bob came up here to talk to Turbo."

"We've already got him for you," said Mouse. "Channel two."

"Thanks," said Bob. He reached and tapped the controls on the terminal in front of him, and the main vidwindow opened with Turbo on the other side.

"Bob!" said the Prime Guardian. "Thank the Net. Are you okay?"

"We're fine, Turbo," said Bob. "What about you? What happened?"

"The virus made it into the archives. Luckily, we managed to transfer ninety-five percent of all data to the secondary system by the time he made it in."

"What did he get?" asked Bob.

"Only temporary files. All of the essential system files were transferred by the time he breached our security measures."

"That's good news. What else?"

"That's it. After he finished with whatever was left he disappeared off our scanners. He may have used a portal, but we think it's unlikely."

"He didn't try to infect the core?" asked Bob.

"No. He was only interested in the archives for some reason."

"You mean he just left?" asked Matrix. "After accessing the Supercomputer and invading Central Command, he just left after stealing second-hand information from the archives? That doesn't make any sense."

"You're right," said Bob troubled. "The first thing it should have gone for was the core."

"That's not all," said Turbo. "The internal surveillance net picked up on the virus a few moments after entering the system. He was seen with a sprite."

"Any luck identifying him?" asked Bob.

"No, but I'm sending you the footage for analysis. Maybe you can find something we missed."

Bob looked confused for a moment. "Why me?"

"I'm assigning you to this investigation," Turbo announced. "You've spent more time studying viral behavior than any other Guardian under my command. You're the best sprite for the job."

"What are my orders?" asked Bob.

"Track down the virus, isolate it, then do what you can to reprogram it. Until we can figure out how they managed to enter the system in the first place, we need to put the Supercomputer on lockdown. I'll have Otto and Dale send you all the equipment you'll need."

"Most of that stuff is still experimental," Bob said.

"Consider this a trial-by-fire. At least now we'll know if these new defenses you invented can really cut it against the real thing, but I don't want you putting yourself in unnecessary risk. If things get too out of hand, I'll send you backup in a nanosecond."

"I promise not to let things get too out of hand then," said Bob.

"Bob, I'm serious. No unnecessary heroics."

"'No unnecessary heroics.' Understood. What about Green?"

"Green is technically a commissioned Guardian, but she's still an Academy cadet," said Turbo. He lowered his voice with his next statement. "I'll understand if you want to send her back to the Supercomputer."

Bob's response was instant. "No. I've seen her in action. I want her here helping me."

"Fine. Everything's settled, then," said Turbo. "Good luck, Bob."

The vidwindow closed and Bob turned to face his friends. "Looks like we've got work to do."

"Don't worry, Bob. You've got the whole system backing you up," said Dot. "Besides, after what we've been through, handling a supervirus will be kid's stuff."

Bob gave a lopsided smile. Then the shrill exclamation of a young boy forced him from his thoughts.

"BOB!" screamed Enzo. The Guardian turned just as Enzo launched himself through the air and dove right into Bob, knocking him to the floor. "You're back!"

Bob laughed lightly. "You didn't think I'd be able to stay away for long, did you?" asked Bob. Enzo got off of Bob, and the Guardian started to get up. "So, played any good games lately?"

"Are you kidding?" said Enzo. "Matrix has gone all superbro since you left, and I haven't been in a game since."

"You must be bored out of your skull," said Bob.

"You have no idea. So what's up?"

"We've got a situation, Enzo," said Dot. "We can't really be bothered."

"Oh, come on, Dot. Bob comes back and I'm left out?"

Dot sighed and smiled. "Alright, you can stay. Just try not to bother us, okay?"

Bob glanced at Dot and gave her a brief grin before turning back to the control station and pulling up the security footage Turbo included in his last transmission. The main viewer displayed a paused image of Pythias and another sprite.

"According to the time index, this is where the security sensors first picked up Pythias," said Bob. He activated the video, and the footage began to play. There was no sound, so they were only able to see their lips move.

"You were right," Dot said. "He does bear a resemblance to Daemon."

"I wonder who the sprite is next to him," said AndrAIa.

They continued to watch the conversation. The sprite was dressed casually, with a tweed jacket and khaki pants. His face had hawk-like features, and his entire demeanor while talking to the virus was one of authority. Matrix was paying special attention to the way the virus behaved during the conversation. It seemed as if he was taking orders from the sprite.

"That sprite doesn't seem infected," said Matrix. "And he doesn't look afraid either."

"You noticed that too, huh?" Bob said as he paused the footage.

"It's almost as if the sprite is the one in charge here," Matrix stated as he stepped closer to the screen.

"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" asked Enzo.

"Yeah," said Bob. "Usually viruses are the ones giving orders. Pythias seems to be taking them."

"Maybe the sprite has leverage against Pythias," suggested Ray.

"That's doubtful," said Bob. "This is a supervirus. It would make more sense for Pythias to infect this other sprite, whoever he is, than to let him manipulate him."

"Which brings us to the central question," said AndrAIa. "What is their relationship? Why would a virus take orders from a sprite when the virus could just infect or delete him?"

Everyone lapsed into contemplation for a few nanos before Enzo spoke up. "Maybe he can't be infected," said the youth. Everyone looked at him. "I'm just saying, maybe Pythias doesn't have any choice but to listen because that sprite can't be infected."

"That makes sense," said Bob. "Or maybe Pythias doesn't have the capacity for infection yet," said Bob. "He had plenty of chances to infect me and Green while we were in Central Command."

"We're forgetting one thing, though," Dot broke in. "This is all conjecture. We need hard facts before we can begin to mount a plan of attack."

Bob said, "And we'll be able to get those facts as soon as my equipment gets here."

"What kind of equipment are we talkin'?" asked Mouse.

"I've been leading a research team for the last minute in developing some new defensive hardware in case another supervirus ever attacked the Supercomputer," Bob explained. "Most of it is still in the experimental phase, but it should give us an edge against Pythias when we find him."

"How do you plan to do that?" asked Dot.

"We've invented some impressive upgrades that may be compatible with Mainframe's sensor array. If they work they should allow us to scan the entire Net without having to go online."

"Impressive," said Mouse. "Sounds like you've been busy."

The War Room door opened and Kevin and Green walked in.

"Hey, Kevin!" said Enzo excitedly. "You're back, too! Alphanumeric!"

Kevin held out his hand and let the boy give him an enthusiastic five digits.

"How's it going, kiddo?" asked Sawyer.

"It's so cool, Kevin. There's a major virus on the loose again!"

"Yeah, that's why I came back," Kevin explained. He faced the others. "Made any progress? Hope we haven't missed anything."

"Not much. I take it Phong gave you a clean bill of health?" asked Bob.

"Not without some struggle," said Allison. "Apparently the good doctor here is a bit of a medical mystery."

Everyone seemed to shift in their stature, knowing what she meant. Even though Kevin's true identity had been kept secret from Mainframe's general public, the fact that Allison had picked up Kevin's unique status so easily was disturbing. The last thing anyone needed was for the Guardians to find out there was a user in Mainframe.

"I kept telling her it was nothing," said Kevin, making an expression with his eyes.

"Oh... well, Kevin has always been kind of..." Bob struggled for his next word.

"Anomalous," finished Enzo. Everyone stared at the boy, amazed. He noticed the attention and looked at Bob. "I've been spending a lot of time in the Read-Only Room."

"Anomalous, huh?" Allison said.

An indicator alarm went off and Specky called, "Commander, sir, ma'am, there's a data carrier requesting permission to enter the system. It has a Guardian signature."

"Give them the coordinates for the portal generator, and let it through," said Dot.

Outside, a portal opened from the Supercomputer and an automated zoom room came streaking through, a trail of light emanating from behind it. It landed on the platform of the portal generator, deposited its contents, then retreated back into the air and raced into the portal. Left behind were several rectangular containers with the Guardian symbol on their surface.

"Looks like your stuff is here," said Dot. She turned back to a CPU captain. "Have your men being those containers to Science Lab 1."

The Binome saluted and left the room.

Bob then turned to Enzo. "Enzo, what would you say to helping me out?"

"Really? Sure."

Bob grabbed a vidpad and typed in a set of instructions, then handed the pad to Enzo when he was finished. "These are instructions for interfacing with the Guardian auxiliary archives. I want you to download the files under this directory and let me know when you're done."

"Sure thing, Bob. You can count on me."

"Allison, could you supervise the transport of the equipment? Enzo can show you how to get to Science Lab 1."

"I'm on it," said Green.

After she and Enzo left the War Room, Bob asked Kevin, "So what was all that about?"

"Phong made a comment about me being a user, and Green overheard. She's a very suspicious young woman."

"We'll have to be more careful," said Dot. "We can't risk you being discovered, especially by the Guardians."

Kevin nodded. "So what's new?"

"We've been going over the security footage from the Supercomputer," said Bob.

"Mind if I take a look?" asked Sawyer.

Bob motioned him over to the front of the view screen and replayed the video.

"Pythias was seen with a sprite when the sensors first located him. We've been trying to piece things together."

Bob's voice went unheard as Sawyer stood transfixed on the screen. His eyes were locked onto the image of the unknown sprite. AndrAIa noticed his fixation.

"What's the matter, Kevin?" asked the game sprite.

Kevin continued to stare at the screen, his eyes focused solely on the sprite in the tweed jacket. "It can't be," he said, barely above a whisper.

"Kevin, what's wrong?" asked Bob.

"Can you zoom in on that man's face?" asked Kevin.

Bob manipulated the controls and enlarged the face of the sprite, then enhanced the image. Kevin stepped closer to view the image more closely. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, or more accurately, who he was seeing.

"This is impossible," said Sawyer.

"Do you know that sprite?" asked AndrAIa.

After a pause Kevin said, "He's not a sprite, AndrAIa. He's a user."


	9. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7: The Friendly Rivals

"Are you sure?" asked Bob.

Kevin was positive. There was no mistake in it. The man he was looking at was Martin MacDonald. He would recognize him anywhere even after all these years.

"Absolutely," replied Kevin. He unglued his eyes from the view screen and faced everyone. "His name is Martin MacDonald. We first met when I was a student at Princeton."

"What in the Net is he doing in the Supercomputer?" asked Matrix.

"I don't know," said Kevin. "I haven't seen him in years. Martin and I, we both shared an interest in user interface technology."

"So he's a scientist," said Mouse.

"Yes, and a good one," Kevin stated. "We worked closely together while we were in college. We even helped each other refine our theories."

"So does he have a teleportation device like you?" asked Dot.

"No," said Kevin, "at least I wouldn't think so. Martin and I disagreed on methodology. He wanted to create an interface that could link directly with the human brain. As a matter of fact, he studied neurology at Harvard Med before coming to Princeton. He was convinced that if a powerful enough computer could be built to interpret the neural input/output signals of the brain, an interface between man and machine could be built. Looks like he was right."

"So in plain C he's not really digitized like you," said AndrAIa.

"No. If I'm right, what we're seeing is a simulated construct, an artificial virtual body created to hold his consciousness while he is in cyberspace."

"What's he doing with a virus?" asked Matrix demandingly.

"If I had to guess, I'd say Martin is Pythias's creator," Kevin said. "And if that's the case, he's also Daemon's creator as well."

"First of all, we don't know for sure if Pythias and Daemon really are related," said Bob. "All we have so far is a resemblance and possibly a coincidental file name. We need to know for sure if we're dealing with Daemon's programmer."

"What can you tell us about MacDonald, Dr. Sawyer?" asked Dot.

"I haven't talked to Martin in over five years," said Kevin.

"You were friends. Surely you can tell us something."

Kevin snickered. "We weren't exactly friends. We were more like friendly rivals." Kevin found a chair and sat down. Kevin rarely thought of the past mainly because it depressed him. Now was one of those rare occasions where remembrance was necessary but nonetheless remorseful.

"Martin was a brilliant scientist, yes," Kevin began, "but he had a massively over-inflated ego. He was on a constant mission to prove he was the smartest living being on the planet, and I was only too happy to give him a run for his money."

"Sounds like a regular battle of the brains," Ray said.

"Actually, it was more of a cold war. Martin and I competed against one another for everything: grades, girls, you name it." Everyone seemed to act surprised at that statement.

"Girls, Doc?" asked Ray.

"It's not what you think," said Kevin defensively.

"Sure it's not," replied the Web Surfer. "So who won?"

Kevin sighed and cleared his throat. "It was a stalemate. Martin may have been a blowhard, but he wasn't full of it. He knew his stuff, and finally, I guess he realized I knew mine too. So he proposed a partnership. The rest of our time at Princeton we worked together refining our ideas. So you see it wasn't exactly a friendship."

"What about Pythias? What connection does he have with him?" asked Matrix.

Kevin's eyes shifted to the renegade. "I knew Martin was into hacking, but I never bothered him about it. I didn't involve myself in his personal life... well, most of the time."

"Most of the time?" asked Mouse. "What happened the rest of the time?"

Kevin paused, wondering if he should continue. He was walking down a path he had long ago tried to bypass. His past involving Martin was colorful, but not necessarily pretty. When he remained silent, Dot pressed him.

"Doctor?" she asked.

Kevin looked up, then shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "We had a falling out," said Kevin. "A few years after I left Princeton, he introduced me to a woman named Jessica Cole."

"The plot thickens," said AndrAIa.

"I was studying computer engineering at MIT and Jess was interested in transferring from Cal Tech. She and Martin were dating at the time, but that was on its way to being over. This was after he'd already started his software company, OmniCron."

"I think I can see where this is going," said Bob.

"I was beginning to hope you would," said Kevin. "Long story short, we became involved and she left Martin. That didn't go over too well. I honestly don't think he ever recovered, and it wasn't because he missed Jessica. I believe his ego just couldn't stand it."

"So what happened?" asked Ray.

"You mean between me and Jessica?" asked Kevin. "A year after she ended it with Martin, we got married."

"Married?" asked Matrix in surprise. "You?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Kevin realized Matrix was genuinely in shock. "Matrix, humans and sprites are alike in more ways than you think. Just because I'm a user doesn't mean I'm not immune to feminine charms."

"You're saying users marry and co-process families?" Matrix asked.

"Yes. The process of conception differs quite a bit, but it's the same basic principle."

Matrix stepped back, his face blank. Apparently some more of his preconceptions about users, and Kevin in general, had been shaken. Seeing him speechless actually brought a smile to Kevin's face.

"So, did you and Jessica ever have kids?" asked Dot.

Kevin's smile faded. He became quiet and his eyes had a distant look in them. "No," he said quietly. "We never got around to it. Jess died five years ago."

Up until that moment, everyone was convinced Kevin was, in some way, omnipotent. He was, for all intents and purposes, a god in comparison to them. While this was true in many respects, the fact of the matter was that Kevin was no more god than an amoeba. When it came right down to it, he was as mortal as any creature in Mainframe. It was still quite a revelation then, when everyone heard that Kevin's wife, also a user, had died. It never even crossed their minds that Kevin could be deleted.

Kevin looked around and saw that everyone was now staring at him in a dumbfounded manner. "What'd I say?"

"You can die?" asked Bob.

Kevin's forehead crinkled. "Of course we die. We're just as mortal as you are."

"But, you're a user," said Dot.

"It's just a word, Dot," Kevin said. "Yes, my people created your world, but that doesn't make us gods. I know it's hard for you to think of me as just a person, but that's all I am. I'm not omniscient, or omnipotent, or any of those things. I'm just a man. Period."

"If it helps, I never thought of you as a god," Dot said. "But I admit it was kind of hard not to think of you as someone all-powerful."

"Well, I'm not. Humans... we're born, we live, and eventually we die. It's the natural course of our evolution."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound insensitive," Dot said.

"It's okay," said Kevin. "I'm used to it."

"So," said Bob, "is there anything else you can tell us about MacDonald?"

"Only that we're going up against one of the most brilliant men I've ever met. He's got the power of money on his side, too. He's built a very large software empire, which is probably how he's managed to build his interface. If we're going up against him, the best place for us to start would probably be in the physical world."

"You're goin' back?" asked Mouse.

"Don't have to," Kevin said. "I just have to make a long distance phone call."

* * *

Danny Fletcher was keeping an eye on his computer station. Pythias had returned through the security hole in the Pentagon's mainframe and was still assimilating the data he managed to download from the database. Fletcher realized early on that MacDonald was only testing Pythias's abilities. Apparently he passed with flying colors because when Fletcher notified his boss, MacDonald had chuckled. Laughter from him was something extremely rare.

The virus was still evolving. Its programming code was in constant flux. It was never the same from one moment to the next, and his functions were expanding at a geometric rate. There was no telling where this would lead, and quite frankly, that scared the hell out of Fletcher.

Pythias was as close to a sentient being as any other organic life-form. This made Fletcher nervous for two reasons. One: It made Pythias harder to predict. He no longer followed a predetermined pattern like most other viruses. Even the most complex viruses were still predictable under mathematical laws, but Pythias had been programmed with a special factor that allowed him to govern his own behavior based on whatever problem he encountered. This was a feature of Pythias's programming that made him unique. The second reason Fletcher was unnerved by Pythias's progress was the fact that he may soon reach a point where they could no longer control him.

MacDonald entered the laboratory and immediately walked to Fletcher's control station. "Progress report," demanded the CEO shrewdly.

Fletcher turned around and addressed his superior while still sitting. "Pythias returned about five minutes ago. He's assimilated the data he retrieved from the Pentagon computer system."

"Any possibility the feds were able to trace him back to us?"

"I don't believe so."

MacDonald scowled. _I don't believe so_ , he thought to himself. He hated uncertainty. Assumption and carelessness were the mother and father of disaster. Daemon had been the first disaster. In MacDonald's own mind it was his first true failure. Despite his planning, the backdoor he programmed into the operating system now used by the Pentagon supercomputer, building the interface, designing Daemon and Pythias, his first attempt had blown up in his face just as it was about to succeed.

Although MacDonald had virtually unlimited access to the Pentagon's computer network through the backdoor, the Pentagon had their own programmers who monitored the software for such anomalies. Getting in undetected was one thing, but getting out again once the security detected you was another.

"Now he's sleeping," said Fletcher.

MacDonald looked confused. "Sleeping?"

Fletcher nodded and pointed to one of six flat-screen monitors at his station. It displayed four rows of fluctuating lines. It was an electroencephalograph of Pythias's brainwave activity. "Look at his alpha wave activity."

"Low frequency, with intermittent pulses every ninety microseconds," said MacDonald. "He's in REM sleep."

"Exactly."

"We didn't program him to need rest," said MacDonald.

"We didn't program him to dream either, but it looks like his brain activity has reached the level of consciousness, or in this case sub-consciousness, needed to sustain dream activity."

"Excellent," said MacDonald plainly. "He's progressing faster then any of our simulations predicted. I think it's time we introduce Pythias into an actual system for infection."

"That may not be such a good idea, sir," Fletcher said.

"Why not?"

"We don't know how Pythias will react to a new system. After being damaged in the Supercomputer, he may be reluctant to explore any more."

"He healed himself, didn't he?" asked MacDonald.

"Yes. He sped up his clockspeed momentarily to repair his body, but still, I have doubts about releasing him again. What if he doesn't decide to return to OmniCron?"

"That's an acceptable risk in my opinion," said Macdonald forcefully, feeling annoyed at having been defied. "Prep the interface. I want to speak to him. I think its time Pythias met his sister's killers."

* * *

Pythias allowed himself to fall over the edge of the cliff. For a moment there was a sensation of weightlessness, then he felt gravity take over and grab his body, pulling him toward the ground. The wind whipped through his hair and across his body. His stomach felt as if it were doing gymnastics as he tumbled through open space. He looked out and saw the ground approaching.

He opened his wings and felt his descent slow. He caught the air and leveled off, bringing himself parallel with the ground. Soaring high above the pine trees, he climbed higher and higher into the sky. The world was a grand expanse of trees, limestone cliffs, and clear, blue sky. The sun was a bright disk whose rays warmed his body.

The sheer beauty of this place was breathtaking. Too bad it wasn't real.

Pythias opened his eyes and was greeted by the familiar darkness of his home, the nothingness of the central computer that birthed him. After seeing the Supercomputer he wondered why his home had to be so depressing. Why couldn't it be grand and colorful like the Supercomputer? He would have to ask his father about that next time he came.

After assimilating the data in the archives, Pythias located the same security hole he and his father utilized to gain entrance. When he tried to teleport himself through the hole, he found it blocked by a security field. He only had to reconfigure the parameters of its access codes in order to open it and escape. He was almost sorry to leave. He wanted to explore the system a little more, but the slight stinging in his shoulder reminded him of the unpleasant encounter with the Guardians.

His father had not elaborated on who the Guardians were when Pythias asked him about them. He only said that they were the enemy and would try and stop him from completing his mission. If anything, Pythias trusted his father and wanted to please him, but there was the question of why they attacked him in the first place. There were so many questions he wanted answered, so many things he didn't understand. Perhaps he would find the answers on his own next time his father released him.

Then the familiar voice of his Martin entered his ears. "Hello, Pythias."

The supervirus turned and saw his father standing beside him.

"Hello, Father," said Pythias. He refrained from sounding too happy. Martin had been very clear in his dislike for what he termed "emotional baggage."

"How are you?" asked MacDonald.

"I am functioning normally," said Pythias. "I have completely assimilated the data from the Guardian Archives. I wish to assimilate more information."

"I thought you might. The pursuit of knowledge is a very addictive. However, I must speak with you about something."

"What?" asked Pythias.

"About the one who came before you. I suppose you could call her your sister."

"I'm not the first of my kind?" asked Pythias.

"No. There was another virus that I created before you. Her name was Daemon."

"What happened to her? Can I meet her?"

"She was destroyed by another virus," said Martin. "She was on the verge of completing her primary function when she was destroyed."

"She no longer exists?"

"That's right. She's dead."

Pythias felt a coldness envelope him. He felt more alone now than ever before. The realization that another like him had existed before was a shock, and the knowledge that the life of his sister had been cut short was also devastating. When he felt a warm drop roll down his face he suddenly became aware of his emotions and turned. He didn't want his father to see him in emotional distress. He knew he was crying, but he couldn't tell why. Emotions were still new to him, and he had yet to learn how to control them or what their exact nature was.

"I realize this may come as a shock to you," said MacDonald, "but a part of her is also a part of you."

"What do you mean?" asked Pythias.

"When Daemon was destroyed, we began seeking ways to improve upon her programming so that the mistake she made would not be made by the next generation. You are the realization of that endeavor. Pieces of Daemon's original program were used in your design."

Pythias turned to face his father again. "So, she is not completely dead?"

"No. A part of her still lives in you. And it is up to you to complete her mission."

"What must I do?" asked the supervirus.

"I want you to go to a system called Mainframe. Then, I want you to infect it."

"For what purpose?"

"That is the system where your sister met her demise. There is also a Guardian there who has information I need. His designation is Guardian 452. You must infect him and assimilate his knowledge at all costs."

"I have never attempted infection before," said Pythias. "Nor have I ever experienced another consciousness. Is it safe?"

"It is. You need not worry so much. You have already exceeded my expectations. I trust you to continue to do so."

Inspired with new confidence, Pythias said, "I will, father. I will not fail you."

* * *

"You can't be serious," said Tom. "Martin MacDonald was in the Supercomputer?"

"That's what I said," said Kevin through the intercom system. "I saw the footage myself. It was him."

Everyone in the control room listened to Kevin's report intently. If the situation was complicated to begin with, it was doubly so now. Martin MacDonald was a billionaire software mogul and very powerful. The influence of his company, OmniCron, could be felt throughout the world. Trying to implicate someone like him in an act of global terrorism was not going to be an easy task.

"Oh, crap," said Sophie. "For crying out loud, Kevin, you might as well have accused the Pope of murder."

"Tell me something I don't know," said Kevin.

"Tell us about Pythias," said Vivian. "What exactly are we dealing with?"

"Pythias seems childlike. He doesn't behave like a normal virus. When I scanned him I found that he has a nervous system not unlike a human's which led me to believe he is supporting an artificial intelligence more sophisticated than anything the government has been experimenting with."

"My God," said Kellous, "what the hell does MacDonald need a virus like that for?"

"I don't know," said Kevin. "I have to stay in here and help the Mainframers find him. That's the best bet for me to get any answers."

"What do you want us to do in the meantime?" asked Tom.

"Notify Cleaver. Tell her to report to the NSC and tell them exactly what I've told you."

"They still think communication is impossible while you're in cyberspace," said Sophie. "How do we explain all of this?"

"As simply as possible," Kevin said. "Tell them about the wormhole if you have to, but keep things simple. We don't want them asking too many questions."

"We hear you," said Tom. "What do you plan to do once you find Pythias?"

"I haven't decided yet. Hopefully Bob can reprogram him before we have to resort to destroying him."

"Did you say you're going to try and reprogram a virus?" asked Vivian. "Can that be done?"

"Bob's done it twice before. I think it can work. All we have to do is find Pythias."

"Well, good luck," said Tom. "We'll be ready to pull you out at a moment's notice."

"I'll keep that in mind. Sawyer out."

Kevin stepped back from the Gateway control station and turned to face Welman and Dot. "Well, that's that. Now all we can do is wait."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this, Dad," said Dot.

"I didn't think you'd approve," said Welman. "I knew how you felt about Kevin and his being here."

Dot said nothing further. Instead she turned to Kevin and asked, "What will happen to MacDonald?"

"Who knows? Martin has his hands in virtually every department of government, not to mention he also supported the President in the last election. He's in a pretty secure position. My people won't even think of touching him without some solid proof."

"I take it it's your intention to obtain some solid evidence, then?" asked Welman.

"I'm in a pretty unique position myself," said Sawyer. "I just don't know where to start looking."

"Our first priority is locating and detaining Pythias," said Dot as she led the two scientists out of the Core Room. They passed through the heavy armored door and made their way down the corridor and into Phong's office.

The old sprite was working behind his desk. "Any news, Phong?" asked Dot.

"Bob and AndrAIa are working on the containment unit in Engineering Bay 2," said Phong. "Mouse is working on enhancing the sensor array, and Guardian Green is overseeing the upgrade of the weapon systems."

"Where's Enzo?" asked Welman.

"He is outside with Frisket," replied Phong. "The young one seems to be distraught."

"It's because Bob's back," Dot said. "We're all so busy again that no one's paying him any attention."

"I can help with that," said Kevin. "The kid was showing me the ropes at jet ball when I was here last. I could keep his mind occupied."

Dot hesitated. Did she really want Enzo hanging around him? She looked from Phong to her father then to Kevin. Maybe this was another step in her recovery, getting over prejudice. Maybe she needed to give Sawyer some leeway. User knew he had only been helpful to them ever since he arrived.

"Okay," she said. "Take him circuit racing, jet bowling, or whatever he wants to do. Just keep his mind off the situation until we can deal with Pythias."

"No problem," said Kevin. "If you guys need my help, just come and find me."

"Wait, I've got something better," said Dot. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a communicator watch. She handed it to Kevin, who took it. "It's a communicator. You can reach any of us with it, and vice versa."

Kevin nodded and put it in his pocket. "I'll be in touch," he said.

Then he turned and left the room.

Dot turned to Phong. "I'll be in the War Room. Dad, you help Bob with the containment unit, okay?"

"Got it. We should have it completed within the next second."

"Good. I'll check with Green about the weapons. When we find Pythias, I want to be ready."

* * *

Enzo sat on the steps of the Principal Office with Frisket lying beside him. When he heard footsteps coming from behind, the dog turned and growled at the approaching Kevin Sawyer.

"Easy, boy," said Sawyer.

"It's okay, Frisket," said the boy. "Settle down."

The dog stopped growling and allowed the scientist to sit next to him.

"What's up, Enzo?" asked Kevin.

"Nothing, just like always," said the boy in a melancholic tone.

"Haven't you been playing any game cubes since I left?"

"No. Matrix has been keeping me out. Then Dot had her episode and I just stopped trying."

"Episode?"

"Long story. So anyway, what's new with you?" asked Enzo.

"I thought we could hang for a while," said Kevin. "I still need some practice at jet ball. Care to be an instructor?"

Enzo looked to Kevin with a curious stare, then smiled. "Yeah, sure."

"Cool," said Kevin. "Come on. Let's walk."

"We can take zip-boards. It'll be faster."

"I still don't know how to steer one of those things," said Sawyer.

"Come on, it's easy. I'll show you."

Kevin sighed. _Here we go again_ _._


	10. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8: New Arrival

Cleaver was staring at Tom and Vivian from across the conference table. If her expression was any indication, she was extremely annoyed.

"Let me get this straight. You received a message from Dr. Sawyer while he was digitized implicating Martin MacDonald in the first attack on the Pentagon mainframe?"

Tom nodded innocently. "Yes," he said.

"And Dr. Sawyer is using a, what did you call it?"

"A quantum singularity," said Vivian. "It's a wormhole that counteracts the time difference between —"

"I get it," said Cleaver, cutting Vivian off. "Look, I won't pretend to know the ins and outs of this operation, but this story you're feeding me sounds like a load of crap. I mean, I've heard better press statements issued from the White House."

"We're telling you what we've learned," said Tom. "Kevin's the smartest man alive, and he's found a real way of communicating while he's in there. This is what he told us."

"Alright," said Cleaver. "So why didn't Sawyer tell this alleged intelligence to me personally instead of passing it through to you two?"

"Because he's trying to do the job you sent him to do!" Vivian half screamed.

"Viv, calm down," said Keller.

The enraged physicist glanced at Tom, took a few deep breaths, and recomposed herself but continued to fix Cleaver with a contemptuous stare.

"Listen," started Cleaver, "I'm not the only one you have to convince here. Just who else do you think I can sell this story to without some hard evidence?"

"We can't give you evidence in the direct sense of the term," said Tom. "Kevin might as well as be on Mars right now. All we have to go on is the information he's sending us."

"A few days ago you said to me that communication between physical reality and virtual reality was impossible," said Cleaver. "Now you're saying Sawyer is talking to you through a wormhole, or whatever the hell it is. Excuse me if I seem a little hard-pressed to believe you."

"What reason would we have to lie?" asked Vivian. "All Kevin has done since you and the Council marched in here last week has been following your orders. He's risking his life for this project, and you're making us sit here and debate whether or not we're telling you the truth or some story! God, you've got a lot of nerve."

"Whether or not your story is accurate isn't the issue," Cleaver said. "Martin MacDonald is one of the most powerful men in the world. Accusing him of an act of terrorism would be like accusing the President of high treason. His company has political pull with almost every industrialized nation on the planet. We're talking about some major stuff hitting the proverbial fan."

"Kevin said he has evidence to suggest MacDonald has access to a human interface platform similar to ours," said Tom.

"Now that just seems unlikely," said Cleaver.

"Maybe," said Vivian, "but there's a way to find out."

"What do you suggest?" asked Cleaver.

Almost a half-hour later, Keller, Thompson, and Cleaver were in the project control room. Vivian was using the computer core to hack into the mainframe of the California Department of Power and Utilities. Punching up the power demands of the Los Angeles area, she located the records specifically for the OmniCron Building. On a separate screen she opened a window showing the power usage of Project Virtual Man. It came as a shock only to Cleaver when she saw that the power spikes in demand for OmniCron matched almost perfectly with the power spikes for Virtual Man whenever Sawyer was sent through the machine.

"According to California Power, OmniCron has been recorded as having spikes in power demand identical in duration and overall wattage as ours," said Vivian.

"How can that be?" asked Cleaver. "You told me MacDonald has a different kind of interface platform. Instead of his entire body being transported into cyberspace only his mind is sent inside."

"True, but he would still have to have a computer as powerful as ours in order for his platform to work, and that's why the spikes are similar," Vivian said. "In order for a mind-computer interface to be successful you would have to have a computer that could interpret the complex operations of the brain and simultaneously translate them into regular computer code."

"And only a quantum computer could do that?" Cleaver said.

"Or a bio-computer," Tom interjected.

"Bio-computer?" Cleaver asked.

"Only a few have ever been built," Tom explained. "They were first theorized in 1994 as an alternative to silicon-based supercomputers. A bio-computer works like a cell through using DNA to store information. In a cell, genetic information is chemically stored on DNA molecules. The same principles could be used to store information in binary code. Bio-computers could be more powerful than supercomputers in terms of storage and could be hundreds of times smaller. The only drawback is speed. A bio-computer would take much more time coding information on organic molecules than a typical computer would on a silicone chip. That's why up until now they've been overlooked in favor of quantum computers."

"Okay, I get the picture," said Cleaver. "This is one indication that you're right. Maybe MacDonald does have an interface platform, but OmniCron's electric bills are still circumstantial at best. We need to get some hard evidence before we go to the council."

"How are we supposed to do that?" asked Tom.

"Let me worry about that," said Cleaver. "I have a friend at the NSA that may be able to help, but we're on very thin ice. We need to keep this to ourselves at least until I've had a chance to talk with my contact." Cleaver turned and headed for the door. "Get back in touch with Sawyer," said Cleaver. "Tell him I'm working on it."

When the door closed, both Vivian and Tom looked at each other, bewildered.

"Ever get the feeling you're in way over your head?" asked Tom.

"Yeah," responded Vivian cynically. "Like today."

* * *

Dot wanted to scream out loud. This was so unfair. It was like life was conspiring against her. Her memories harkened her back to after the restart, when she and Bob first kissed on the steps of the Principal Office. That moment was like a razor cutting into her. She recalled feeling lighter than air, Bob's rough hands slowly sliding up her back to pull her closer to him. Up until then, she never recalled feeling happier. Then Daemon came into the picture and wrecked her happiness.

Dot sighed. She wasn't being fair. Daemon was simply a catalyst, not the true cause of the rift that formed between her and Bob. In reality she had only herself to blame, but now it seemed the same thing was happening again. Pythias, a supervirus almost every bit as dangerous as Daemon, probably more so, was loose. User, when was this ever going to end? Hadn't they been through enough already?

 _Stop mulling over things you can't change_ , she thought to herself. _Things could be worse_.

And in truth they could. They had a chance, a good chance, of stopping this creature with Bob leading the endeavor. Dot smiled. He had changed so much. Just when she thought he couldn't surprise her, that she knew him fully, he comes back an indomitable leader. The last few seconds had seen the installation of Bob's new containment system and the new weapons systems. Sawyer's help had been nothing less than substantial. His skills as both an engineer and a programmer cut the job down to seconds instead of cycles.

While Dot's suspicions about Kevin still loomed, he was slowly winning her over more and more. Ever since his first appearance he had been nothing but sincere and cooperative. He showed no signs of being hostile. In fact, he was just the opposite. Why then was it so hard for her to trust him? Perhaps she was simply paranoid; she needed something to be wrong. Bob trusted him, and Enzo had taken an exceptional liking to him as well. Dot took one last look at the vidwindow and closed it. She was hungry and decided to go to the diner. In the past she would have instead eaten in her office. The food synthesizer she had installed was capable of making any meal she wanted. What she really wanted was to spend some time with Bob. Using her terminal, she typed a brief text message and sent it to Glitch then she stepped out of her office and into the War Room.

Specky was already prepared with a progress report.

"Commander," said the Binome, "we've just got the latest report in from Dr. Sawyer and Mouse. They've finished the upgrades to the sensor net. We're about to begin scanning for Pythias now."

Dot thought a moment. She really needed to be here. But it was just the sensor net, not really that significant.

"Let me know how it goes," said Dot. "I'll be at the diner having dinner. Carry on, everyone."

After the door closed behind her, Specky turned to see his own moderately stunned expression being mimicked by everyone else in the room.

"What just happened?" asked a security Binome.

"I think she's going to eat dinner," said Specky.

"Now?"

"Well, it is just a sensor upgrade," replied the tech.

"And she ignored it," said another security Binome.

"She just seems so... calm."

"Maybe she should have nervous breakdowns more often," said another.

* * *

"Okay," said Kevin as he placed the motherboard back into its slot. "That should do it."

The sensor array control center was a rectangular room deep within the bowels of the Principal Office. It housed the main circuits for the system's primary sensor array. The walls were inlaid with slots six inches long, four inches high, and one inch wide, which served as the receptacles for the numerous motherboards, and in the center of the room was a table, about mid-torso high, that served as an interface terminal.

Both Sawyer and Mouse had been modifying the internal circuitry of the sensor net to make Bob's upgrades compatible with the system's hardware. For the last day and a half they had been removing the motherboards and installing new pico-processing chips that Welman designed before the Twin City accident, but he never had them built. The increased processing power of the chips would be necessary for the enhancements, which were light-years beyond what Mainframe had.

"I'm showing a two-hundred percent increase in sensor range," said Mouse, "and a one-hundred fifty percent increase in acuity."

"That's amazing," said Kevin. "Bob's been a busy boy."

"Apparently," replied the hacker. "I've never seen upgrades this sophisticated."

"At least we'll be able to find Pythias now," said Kevin. "I still can't believe Martin is behind all of this."

"From what you said this user certainly seems capable of releasing a supervirus."

"That's not what I mean. Sure, Martin was a jerk, but he wasn't evil. At least, he wasn't when I knew him. People just didn't get him."

"And they got you?"

"I may have been a wiz-kid, but that doesn't mean I was maladjusted. Martin didn't like people. He thought they were a waste of time because most were beneath him."

"Sounds like a real charmer," Mouse said.

"He was known for his god-complex during college," said Kevin. "I think that's one reason Jessica left him."

Mouse eyed Sawyer sternly. "Level with me, Doc. This MacDonald guy, is he really as smart as you make him out to be?"

Kevin gave her a reassuring grin. "Not to boast, but I was always the better man."

The hacker grinned back. "Ya know, Doc, you ain't so bad."

"Does that mean you trust me?" asked Kevin.

"I wouldn't say that just yet, but you're on my good side."

"I take it it's better to be on your good side than bad?" said Kevin.

Mouse gave him a sly glance, picking up on his sarcastic overtone. "Take it from me: once you're on my bad side, you stay there."

"Ouch. Remind me never to tick you off, then."

"Don't worry. I'll let'cha know," she replied with a grin.

"So what do you think about all this, Mouse?" Kevin asked. "Users and viruses popping up all over the place?"

"Doesn't really matter what I think," she said. "You're here, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but you don't seem as high strung as everyone else around here. Why is that?"

"I've been with these people for a long time. We've been through viruses, wars, games, invasions. Spam, we've been through just about everything life can throw at us, and we've survived it all. This is just another one of those days."

"You don't sound worried," said Kevin.

"Hm. I've just gotten good at dealin' with junk, is all," Mouse said.

"You still haven't answered my question, though," Kevin said.

She looked at him with intense concentration, then sighed. "I'm not one to judge anybody, not even users. Before I came to Mainframe I was a completely different sprite. I wouldn't have given two bits about who got infected and who ended up deleted. All that changed, though. They're my family now, and I care about them. But you, Doc... you don't have to be here. You don't know any of us. You can leave any time you want, but you choose to stay. That tells me a lot."

Kevin smiled genuinely. Mouse's words comforted him. He soon realized why Dot seemed so upset when she left. She was like a lifeline. Mouse seemed to help things make sense and anchored those around her.

"But I'd be lyin' if I said this MacDonald didn't make me nervous," Mouse said.

"Why's that?" asked Kevin.

"For the first time in my life I don't feel like things are in my control. The thing about believing in a higher power is that when you meet that power face to face you suddenly realize the world is smaller than you thought. It's like all ya'll is fightin' your own personal war, and we're just innocent bystanders."

"That's a pretty accurate view," Kevin said.

"And normally we don't know about it. We just go about our lives and don't think twice about users and what makes them tick. Personally, I hadn't thought much about the user until you showed up. Now it turns out there's more than one and you can both come and go as you please. That's not something that's easy to swallow, even for me."

Kevin had not given much thought about how his presence might affect the religious beliefs of Mainframe's people, but it seemed he had made a significant impact. Already, everyday beliefs about the creators of the Internet were being questioned by those he interacted with. Kevin considered himself a realist, and he never hypothesized outlandishly. In this case, though, he could not help but ponder over the significance of a belief system of an entire civilization being thrown into question by a single encounter. From what he already gathered, there was no one universal view about the user.

Some believed in one user that presided over all the known systems while others believed in multiple users. Some even had a comparatively theological view, that there was an evil user who was responsible for the game cubes, and a benevolent user who maintained the systems by sending upgrades. In short, people didn't really know what to think about the users. Sawyer couldn't go as far to say that everyone in the Net was agnostic since the evidence of the user's existence was incontrovertible, but since nobody really knew anything about the user they just didn't think about it. Those beliefs were obsolete in the wake of his arrival in Mainframe. Now Kevin knew what Moses must have felt like when he spoke to the burning bush.

"Mouse," said Kevin, "I know people are uncomfortable when I'm around. It's only natural, but don't pretend. If it helps, just think of me as a guy. Your normal, everyday guy, because that's just what I am."

The hacker nodded. "Okay," she said. "We're ready to boot up the control systems."

Sawyer typed a few commands into the terminal and activated the new updated software. "The new upgrades are working," said Sawyer. "I'd normally recommend running a series of tests, but I don't think we have the time. Go ahead and calibrate them to scan for Pythias."

"I'm already way ahead of you, Doc," Mouse said. "Commencing Net-wide sensor sweep now." On the terminal was a 2-D representation of the Net. A wave of gold across the surface of the image showed that the sensor sweep was in fact touching every system. "Looks like the new sensors are going to work after all," said the hacker.

"I just thought of something. Martin is too smart for this. He would have thought of every way to avoid being linked with Pythias's activities."

"So even if we do find him, we still won't know where he came from," Mouse said.

"Exactly. Martin would make absolutely sure there were no trails that could lead the government back to his company. We may be down here for a while."

An alert sounded from the terminal and a red dot appeared on the left-most side of the Net. Geographically, the region the blip occupied was the west coast of the United States.

"Maybe not," Mouse said.

"It's Pythias," said Sawyer. "I don't understand. That's California. OmniCron is based in Los Angeles."

"Maybe MacDonald isn't as smart as you remember him to be. I'll get the War Room."

As Mouse turned to open a vidwindow to upstairs, Kevin studied the map and felt his stomach sink when the dot began to move along the network of lines that represented cyberspace. "Mouse," said Kevin, "I think I know why the sensors picked him up. Pythias is on the move."

"Did you get that, Specky?" asked Mouse through the vidwindow.

"Yes, ma'am. We have the target up here, too. Sensors have definitely identified it as Pythias."

"We've got another problem. According to these readings he's on a direct course to Mainframe!"

Mouse's face contorted into a frown. "Order battle stations," she said. "Get Dot back here, pronto!"

* * *

"Okay, how about a class A-2?" asked Bob.

"Easy. Proxy server," said Enzo.

Bob smiled. "Impressive. So you really have been studying all this time."

"Pretty much. I can't even remember the last time I was in a game."

"Surely you are exaggerating," said Cecil. "Besides, all that studying has made you far less annoying."

Enzo frowned as the snobby waiter turned and returned to polishing glasses. Bob and Enzo were waiting for Dot in a booth at the diner. Bob had received a text message from her asking if he wanted to have dinner. He was with Allison Green in Hugh Branch's lab where a holding chamber was still being worked on. Enzo had been running errands for him, and Bob asked if he would like to join him and Dot for something to eat. The boy accepted immediately, and they left Green in charge.

Things were almost ready. The containment unit was nearly finished. The CPUs were outfitted with new weapons. All that was left was to get the sensors online. Mouse and Sawyer were working on that and promised to have them working within the second. In the meantime, however, Bob found himself loaded with personal questions.

"So Bob," asked Enzo, "you and Dot... are you...?"

"We're working things out," he said.

"Yeah, and?"

" _And_ , that's it."

"Oh, come on," said the kid. "Dot's been in therapy for cycles, and I haven't seen her this calm since before the restart. And there's a supervirus somewhere out there right now. I mean, it's seriously freaky."

"Things are different now, Enzo. Dot and I just needed some time apart. Things will be better from now on, I promise."

This made the boy smile. When Dot finally arrived he was the first to wave her over.

"Hi, boys," said Dot as she took a seat in Bob's booth.

For a moment she wasn't sure what to do. She had never been good at showing affection. She recalled only a few time throughout her life when she had allowed herself to indulge. Now that Bob was back, she wasn't sure what to do. Not to mention the fact that her little brother was sitting directly across from them.

"So, have you already ordered?" she asked.

"We were waiting for you," said Bob. "I don't think we had any chance of getting waited on by Cecil unless you were here."

"You know, Bob, you might get better service from him if you actually pronounced him name right," Dot said.

Enzo snickered. "Hey, you know, I'm not that hungry. I think I'll go find Frisket. I'll see you later."

Enzo slid out of the booth, making his way toward the exit. When Dot saw the boy rising into the air on a zip-board she relaxed a little and turned to Bob. She leaned closer and captured his bottom lip in a tantalizingly slow kiss. The pithiness of their contact drove Bob half mad with passionate desire, but the wicked grin on Dot's face told him that was her intention.

"Hi," she said.

He smiled. "Hi, yourself." He turned and raised his hand. "Cecil, two energy shakes, please."

The waiter glanced in their direction and decided that since Mademoiselle was present he would have to forego his usual habit of ignoring the contemptuous Guardian and went to prepare their orders.

"I was kind of surprised," Bob said. "Usually I'm the one making the dates."

Dot grinned. "I've decided to be a little more outgoing," she said.

Bob cocked an eyebrow. "You were always outgoing."

"You know what I mean." Cecil brought them their energy shakes. "Thank you, Cecil."

"My pleasure, Mademoiselle," replied the waiter.

Dot took a sip of her drink. "So," she asked. "What were you two talking about?"

"I was just quizzing Enzo," Bob replied. He took a long sip of shake.

Dot eyed Bob curiously. "Quizzing?"

"Yeah. He wanted to show me how much he's learned since I've been gone."

"Enzo? Learning? You've lost me."

"Ever since Matrix took over as Guardian, Enzo hasn't been allowed to play games, so he's spent almost every second since I left in the Read-Only Room. Didn't you know?"

"No," said Dot, a bit shamefully. "Actually, I didn't."

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"Bob, there's something I need to tell you." Dot sat her shake down. "After you left I... I had a total meltdown. I couldn't do anything. I was irritable all the time, I couldn't sleep or eat. Eventually it got so bad I had to give command of the system over to AndrAIa. I locked myself in my apartment, away from my work, my loved ones, everything. The only one I saw on a regular basis was Phong, and that was because we started having therapy sessions. Occasionally I saw Enzo and Dad, but we rarely ever spoke. I know this sounds awful, but in all that time I never knew what was going on with him." She sighed. "I think he blames me for you leaving Mainframe."

"We both agreed that we needed some time apart. Enzo knows that," Bob comforted. "And I'm back now. As soon as all this is over things will get back to being normal again, I promise."

"That's just the thing, Bob," Dot said. "Ever since Megabyte shot you into the Web, nothing's been the same. It's been one bad turn after another." She caught herself and shied away. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Bob said. "You need to say what you feel more often." He tightened his hold around her shoulders. "I know things have been tense these last couple of minutes. We just have to ride these things out." He found her hand and laced his fingers with hers. She squeezed it appreciatively. "We can't change what's happened. All we can do is accept it, and make it through tomorrow as best we can. And we'll do it together."

She turned and looked at him. "Since when did you become a sage?"

"It's hard not to have Phong rub off on you," he said.

She smiled, then leaned forward again and kissed him. "Thanks."

"Just one of the many services I provide," he said with a nonchalant grin.

Glitch beeped, indicating an incoming call. Bob rolled his eyes and opened the channel. Kevin appeared on the enlarged circular screen.

"Bob, we've got trouble," he said.

"What is it, Kevin?" asked Bob.

"Mouse and I got the sensors working. They picked up Pythias just a few nanoseconds ago. He's headed this way."

"What!" Bob exclaimed.

"He'll be in the system any microsecond. Is Dot with you?"

Dot moved into Glitch's camera range. "I'm here, Kevin."

"We need you back here ASAP. Mouse has already put the CPUs on standby and Matrix and Green are ready to move."

"We're on our way," said Dot. "What's Pythias's ETA?"

There was no need for Sawyer to reply. A sound of thunder echoed through the city, and high in the sky a flash of light burst in the containment field. A hole formed in the air, and a streak of light raced out of it, its trajectory aimed at Floating Point. The object impacted and the sound of a great explosion resounded across the system accompanied by a flash of light.

"Um... right now," Kevin said.

* * *

Kelly Cleaver opened her cell phone and dialed a number she knew from memory. Beckett was probably not in her office, but in the slim chance she was...

"This is the National Security Agency switchboard. How can I direct your call?" came a male voice.

"This is Kelly Cleaver. Delta clearance: 174823. I need Deputy Director Louise Beckett immediately."

She was put on hold. Cleaver had a little time to think. The walls of the office she had been assigned at the project were soundproof, and it had a special cell phone amplifier which doubled as a scrambler. Things were about to get real touchy, and she didn't want anyone to know what she was planning.

"This is Beckett," came the female voice from the NSA.

"Director Beckett, this is Kelly Cleaver, the President's aide."

There was a momentary pause on the other end. "This is unexpected, Miss Cleaver. What can I do for you?"

"We have a situation concerning the security breach of the Pentagon's computer system."

"I thought that was already taken care of," replied Beckett.

"It was. We've had another breach, this time we've managed to get a lead on who the culprit is. We're dealing with a case of domestic terrorism."

"Then why are you calling me? The FBI handles domestic cases. The NSA doesn't operate within the U.S."

Cleaver almost laughed. "Really, Louise, that's a joke coming from you."

"I can't help you, Kelly. I'm sorry. Things down here are pretty tight."

"I need Jake Foley," Cleaver said. "You owe me, Lou. I helped keep him from being dissected when Warner wanted to lock him away like a lab rat. Now we have a genuine problem, and he's the only one equipped to handle it."

There was a sigh from Beckett. Cleaver knew she was thinking. "What is it that you need Jake to do?"

"Deep cover. I need him to infiltrate OmniCron and gather information. We think Martin MacDonald is behind the security breach and Daemon."

"That's a pretty big accusation," said Beckett. "How good is your intel?"

"From where I'm sitting, it's pretty good. Look, this needs to be a strictly black-on-black operation. Only we can know about this until we get some solid evidence on OmniCron's involvement, and that's going to take Jake Foley."

Another pause, this one longer.

Finally, Beckett said, "How fast can you get here?"

Cleaver smiled. "I'll be there in an hour."


	11. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9: Casualty

The loading bay was flooded with the light of day as the launch doors opened. Allison Green slapped a fresh energy pack into the grip of her disruptor. The lab technicians just finished their work on the containment unit. It wouldn't be easy getting Pythias inside, so they would have to render him unconscious first. Hopefully Matrix would take care of that. The attack units were manned and ready to deploy at Dot's command.

"Nervous, Green?" came Matrix's voice. The maverick Guardian approached her from the side.

"Not nervous," she said. "I'm just anxious to even the score, that's all. But if Bob's idea doesn't work, I'll be nervous then."

Matrix regarded Green for a moment, then attempted to reassure her. "Don't worry. I'll soften him up for you."

"Please," Green said. "What kind of girl do you think I am?" She holstered her weapon then decompressed her zip-board and hopped on. "Before this second's over, I'm getting my hands dirty." With a self-confident smirk she added, "I'll try not to make you look bad."

 _Wow. I've been told_ , he thought to himself. An alarm sounded and everyone started their vehicles.

Phong's voice came over the intercom. "All security personnel: Deploy to Floating Point. I repeat, all units: Deploy to Floating Point."

"That's our cue," Matrix said to Green. "Let's do it."

* * *

 _Curiosity fragged the null_ , Enzo reminded himself. _Ah_ , _who cares?_ he countered. _I'm smarter than a null anyway._

After seeing the meteorite-like phenomenon, Enzo immediately decided to investigate, knowing full well his sister and older brother would both forbid it. Well, what was a bored, adventure-hungry sprite of 1.0 supposed to do? As he approached the area, he made a few observational orbits around the impact sight. There was a crater in one of the islands three yards in diameter. There was definitely something moving down there as well.

Fueled by his curiosity, and with an obvious lack of caution, Enzo glided his zip-board down to the island.

* * *

The virus looked around and took stock of his surroundings. He was obviously in the system of Mainframe. He had been downloaded with a map of the city before leaving his haven. This was called Floating Point Park. Ahead of him, in the distance, was the dome-shaped building of the Principal Office. He must reach the system core in order to completely infect Mainframe, as his father instructed. The concept of infection bothered Pythias. If he infected the system then all its inhabitants would become part of his own consciousness. He recalled how Martin explained it.

"You will be able to access their thoughts and experiences simultaneously," he said. "You will be part of a collective instinct."

"I will have more than my own thoughts in my mind?" asked Pythias.

"You don't need to worry," his father said. "We designed you to process great amounts of data. This way you can gain experience and knowledge almost instantly."

Pythias did not know why, but the very thought of having other people's minds connected with his own through a data link was very disturbing. It made him nervous, but he had a mission to complete. As soon as he infected the system, he would be able to access the inhabitants' thoughts and locate Guardian 452.

Unexpectedly, he heard a voice from behind.

Clearing his throat, Enzo said, "State your name and function." He surprised himself with the authority he exhibited in his voice.

Pythias turned and Enzo's heart dropped several inches in his chest when he saw the virus in person for the first time.

 _Okay_ , _so maybe this wasn't such a good idea._

As the virus approached him, Enzo was reminded of Daemon and of how the merciless virus had infected his home. Quickly, his fear was replaced by anger. He would be nullified before he just turned and ran with his tail tucked between his legs when this guy came in like he already owned the place.

 _I can already hear Dot preaching at me_ , _but stalling him may mean the difference between being infected and stopping this creep before this whole thing becomes Daemon all over again._

"Identify yourself," Pythias said.

The boy swallowed hard, but answered as steadily as possible. "I am Enzo Matrix."

 _Too bad I don't still have that Guardian uniform format in my icon. I might have been able to pass as a threat._

"Take me to your Principal Office," demanded the supervirus.

"Why. So you can infect the core?"

"It is my intention to infect this system. You will assist me in completing my mission."

 _Keep him talking. Give Bob and Dot time to get here._ "I won't help you! You can't infect my home."

Pythias cocked an eyebrow. This child was interesting. He was clearly afraid of him. His pulse and respiration indicated extreme anxiety, but the way he spoke, firmly and unwaveringly, with anger even, seemed to contradict his scans.

"You are only a boy," Pythias said. "You fear me, and yet you speak without fear."

"You don't scare me," Enzo lied. "I've dealt with your kind before." _Where are Bob and Matrix_? Enzo thought.

Here he was talking like a Guardian when this guy could infect him at a moment's notice. Surely they saw the virus enter the system. Where were they? He was not sure how much longer he could stall him. Pythias came closer. Enzo stayed still, his heart thundering in his chest.

"Your heart rate has increased with my proximity. Why do you fear me?"

Enzo blinked. "Whadda ya mean? You invade my home and want to infect the Principal Office. You want to delete us."

"I wish no harm on this place. I only wish to fulfill my creator's wishes."

"Well, if you don't want to delete us, what are you here to do?"

"I am to infect this system and assimilate all its knowledge, then seek out Guardian 452."

"Bob?"

Pythias asked, "You know him?"

"Yeah, I do. And as soon as he and my big brother get here, they're gonna kick the ad hoc outta you." Enzo felt a small part of him swell with pride at talking big to a hulking, intimidating supervirus. Dot would have screamed her head off at him for using such foul language.

"I seriously doubt that," said Pythias. "Since you obviously have superior knowledge about this system and its inhabitants, you will serve as my first test subject."

"Say what?" Enzo felt a cold sensation run down his spine and into his legs, which began to quiver.

"We will become telepathically linked after infection takes place. We will become one mind, and I will use your knowledge to complete my mission. You will not be harmed."

Enzo's eyes widened. "I don't think so."

Finally, he maneuvered his zip-board in an attempt to get away from Pythias. He didn't get far. He managed to get ten yards before an invisible force grabbed him and pulled him back to Pythias. It was like being in the grasp of a giant fist, although there were no apparent forces at work around him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" said the boy as he struggled against his telekinetic restraints.

"I do not know how I will be affected by infection. I need to know what will happen when I am joined with another." Pythias placed hands on Enzo's head. "You will not be harmed."

"No!" Enzo yelled. "Stop!"

Enzo felt warmth pass through him. Then a steel vice clamped around is lungs. He could not breathe, and his heart felt icy. He felt a cold sweat break out over his body.

"Stop! You're hurting me," cried Enzo.

Pythias stopped his infection and Enzo tipped off his zip-board. Pythias crouched over the boy. His body was beginning to fade in and out. Something was terribly wrong. He scanned him and found that his body was rejecting the code. It was killing him. All of his vital body functions were failing for some reason. If something was not done soon he would fragment and die.

A new emotion consumed Pythias now. The realization that the boy might die because of him filled him with terror. Pythias now knew guilt.

 _This wasn't supposed to happen_ , he thought. _What is happening? What did I do wrong?_

Using his telepathy, Pythias tried to stop the spread of viral code, but that didn't stop it. The code continued wreaking its unintended havoc upon the boy's body. Picking Enzo up and cradling him in his strong arms, Pythias used his telekinetic powers to lift them into the air and set off in the direction of the Principal Office.

He didn't get far. A squad of security vehicles intercepted him in midair. Leading them was a Guardian hovering on a zip-board with his Keytool aimed directly at him. Pythias instantly recognized him as the same sprite he encountered before in the Supercomputer. At that time he had identified himself as Guardian 452, the same Guardian Martin wanted him to find here in Mainframe.

"End of the line, pal," Bob said. Then he noticed Enzo, and his face contorted.

"What did you do to him?" he asked furiously.

"I needed to see what would happen," said Pythias. "I did not intend for him to suffer."

"Whatever you're doing, stop it!"

"I've tried. I cannot." Pythias was becoming alarmed. There was something strange happening. A telepathic link was forming between him and the boy. "Bob, you have to help him. He's dying!"

The Guardian was divided. He had to help Enzo even if it might be a trap. He glided over to the virus. "Give him to me."

Pythias handed Enzo over to Bob. Bob, in turn, placed him in one of the CPU patrol cars and told the pilots to take him to the Principal Office. The vehicle departed from the squad and raced at maximum speed to the P.O.

Pythias watched as they slowly shrank away into the distance.

"Now, Pythias," Bob said, "you're under arrest."

Pythias returned his attention to the enraged Guardian. "Bob, I... I didn't mean to."

The virus felt horrible inside. His emotions were in turmoil. The contemptuous look on Bob's face made the virus feel like the sole of a dirty boot. He did not know why he felt this way or where the simile came from but knew it to be accurate.

Bob began to approach the virus again. "Why have you come here?"

"I was told to infect this system and absorb its inhabitants' knowledge. Your knowledge is specifically important to my father."

"Why?" Bob asked.

"You have a way to reprogram viruses. That knowledge threatens my father's plans. I must have it."

"Then you know you don't have to do this," Bob said. "We can reprogram you, make you better."

"You speak of me like I were a disease," Pythias said.

For a nano, Bob didn't know what to say. "Let me put it to you this way," Bob said. "Either you come with us willingly, or we'll make you."

Pythias narrowed his eyes at the Guardian. "I don't want to fight you, Bob, but I will if I have to. I don't wish to harm anyone else. Let me leave."

"I can't do that," said Bob.

Part of him wanted to blast his way through the squad and flee Mainframe. Yet another part of him wanted to stay. Something made him want to trust Bob. A part of him knew he could be trusted, that he was an honorable man and only wished to do the right thing.

 _The boy's thought patterns are interfacing with my own. My judgment is being influenced by his memories. I have to get out of here!_

Pythias was beginning to panic. "I have to leave, now!" He began to rise into the air, but simultaneous blasts from CPU units caused him to plummet to the ground. He hit the pavement with a mighty thud.

"Matrix," Bob said into Glitch, "Pythias is down. You and Green make sure he stays there."

* * *

Enzo was brought into the infirmary by a Binome med team. Dot was right beside him holding his hand, hot tears running down her face. The instant she heard the news, she left AndrAIa in command and rushed to the docking bay to meet him. Phong and Welman were already there, prepped and ready to receive the young sprite. Thoughts of terror and remorse and fear ran through their minds as Enzo's body was transferred from the anti-grav gurney to the operating table. The sensors in the bed relayed their information to the overhead indicator screen. The gages showed his energy signs were slowly dropping.

"His internal temperature is thirty-two degrees Celsius and rising," said Phong. "If we do not stop the virus code, he will fragment."

 _Oh_ , _Enzo_ , thought Welman. If he had a normal face, there would be tears falling from the eyes. "We have to lower his temperature. Get me an IV of heuristic antiviral agent, now!"

One of the Binomes responded to the professor's order and started setting up the apparatus. Phong opened the boy's eyelids and shined a light into each. Instead of contracting irises, there were no pupils for the light to dilate; Enzo's irises had become a glassy white with no black of pupil anywhere. An alarm from the bed's sensors indicated that his code degradation was critical.

"What's happening?" Dot almost screamed.

"The virus code is killing him," said Welman with a quivering voice. "Phong, my son is dying. I... I don't know what to do."

"A transfusion from a compatible donor might buy us some time," said Phong.

"I'll do it," Dot said. "Get a transfusion unit over here on the double!"

Suddenly, the steady sound of a flat-line rang through their ears.

"DAD!" screamed Dot.

"His neural functions have terminated!" exclaimed the professor. "I need a synaptic stimulator before he —"

Welman didn't finish his sentence. Before he could help his son, Enzo's body became suffused with orange light.

* * *

Pythias felt the pain in his body ebb away with the command of his will. He tried to get back to his feet, but another particle beam hit him. This one came from yet another Guardian, a female. He also encountered her in the Supercomputer. She was leading another attack squad of CPU troops. There were two Binomes to a zip-board, and they were all armed with solid-state laser weapons. This was going to be difficult.

A shudder ran through the ground, the sound of clanging metal echoed off the buildings. Pythias turned and a metal fist slammed into his body. Air was forced from his lungs as he slammed into the ground twice, repeatedly rolling until he came to a stop. When he looked, Pythias saw Enzo's older brother in an exoskeleton suit marching towards him. It was becoming clearer, the link between him and the young child. He could discern the faces of people previously unfamiliar to him. This made what he did to Matrix feel all the more sweet.

Pythias projected a particle beam at Matrix. The clumsy exo-suit tipped over backwards and struck the pavement with a loud clash.

"How do you like that, you big jerk!" shouted Pythias.

A volley of laser fire reigned down upon Pythias. He erected a personal force field around his body. The lasers no longer harmed him. He began firing green blasts of psionicly controlled energy at the attacking forces. He hit a few CPU patrol cars, sending them spiraling out of control.

However, that wasn't the end of his strife. Another force field, projected from the far left, surrounded him. At first, he thought he could adapt his shield and walk through, but for some reason he remained trapped in his prison. He beat against the walls of the spherical bubble that confined him, and he tried blasting it with psionic energy blasts. Nothing worked. He was trapped.

Matrix disconnected from his exo-suit and Green landed near the imprisoned virus. Bob gently landed as well and helped Matrix out of the exo-skeleton. Soon, Ray and Kevin arrived as well.

"Is he contained?" asked Sawyer.

Bob smirked. "Oh, he's not getting out of that."

"What exactly is holding him in there?" asked Green. "He can walk right through shield grids."

"Not this one," said Bob. "Dot had me upgrade Glitch's containment field projectors with a quantum encryption algorithm."

"Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood quantum physicist, I assume?" asked Kevin.

"I adapted it from your shield modification from the last time you were here," said Bob. "Came in handy."

"Okay... so in short, he's not getting out," Matrix said.

"Unless he can alter the laws of physics," Kevin said, "he's not going anywhere."

"Get a hover-carrier over here and put him in a tractor beam. We'll take him to the containment unit and hold him there."

"What about the kid? Enzo?" asked Green. "I heard over the radio that he was infected."

For a moment, Matrix's face became angry, and Kevin recognized the man he met when he arrived in Mainframe for the first time. Bob also looked grim, but he turned back to Allison with a hopeful expression in his eyes.

"He's in the infirmary. Pythias infected him." He sighed. "You and Dr. Sawyer stay with Pythias and make sure he's secure in the containment chamber. Matrix and I are going to check on Enzo."

As Bob turned, Kevin reached out and grabbed the Guardian's arm. "Bob," he said. "If there's anything I can do, let me know."

Bob nodded, then he and Matrix decompressed their zip-boards and soared away to the Principal Office.

* * *

Everyone stood back as they witnessed the transformation. Dot continued to hold her brother's hand as she watched what was happening to him. When it was over, and the light from his body dissipated, everyone stared in awe at what took place.

"Dad," Dot began. "Is he..."

Professor Matrix scanned him. He was no longer fading in and out of existence. His color had returned to normal. "The scans say he's fine. All his functions are stable!"

"How is this possible?" asked Phong.

Enzo's eyes began to flutter. Slowly, he opened them and looked around at the people hovering over him.

He looked and smiled at his sister. "Hi, sis." At first he wasn't sure what was wrong. Everyone was staring at him. "What's the matter?"

"Enzo..." Dot began but she never finished. He noticed she had been crying.

"Have you been crying?" he asked. When he sat up, he noticed that, strangely, he was half a head higher than her. He also noticed something was wrong with his voice. "Whoa. What's up with this?"

"Son," Welman said. "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine," Enzo replied. "Other than this weird thing with my voice."

Dot looked to Phong. Phong looked to Welman. Welman looked back and forth from Enzo to Phong. Strangely, everyone was avoiding looking at him for some reason.

"What's going on? What happened?" Enzo asked.

"Perhaps you should see for yourself," Phong suggested.

The elderly sprite reached for a mirror on a nearby instrument table. He grabbed it and held it in front of Enzo's face. For a nano Enzo didn't know what he was seeing. Then his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

The reflection staring back at him was not the face of a ten-hour-old boy. It was the face of a young man.


	12. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10: Evolution

MacDonald stormed into the lab. Moments ago Fletcher told him Pythias was showing strange patterns in his brainwaves. Something was terribly wrong. Martin approached the workstation and roughly asked Fletcher for an update.

"We've picked up spikes in his brainwave patterns," reported Fletcher. "According to our readings his prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are in a state of extreme agitation."

"Cause?"

"We're not sure. We think he may have tried to infect the system, and his neural net is overloading with the amount of information it's trying to process."

"That's impossible," said MacDonald. "He has the brain capacity of a human. He can process and store terabytes of information at once."

"This may not be a physical problem, sir," said Fletcher. "It may be a psychological problem."

"What kind of psychological problem?"

"We designed Pythias to assimilate the experiences, memories, and emotions of other sprites in the cyberverse. He may be physically capable, but he may not be emotionally stable enough to handle the strain. These brainwave patterns are very similar to those exhibited by people suffering from schizophrenia."

"So he's having some sort of meltdown, is that what you're saying?" asked MacDonald."

"It's possible," replied Fletcher.

MacDonald sighed heavily. "We can't risk letting him fall into the hands of the Guardians and let him be reprogrammed. Prep the machine. I'm going in."

"Sir, is that wise?" asked Fletcher. "Pythias could be capable of anything."

With restrained anger, Martin said, "When I want your opinion, Fletcher, I'll ask for it! Now do as I say and prep the machine."

The lab tech cowered and went to carry out his orders.

MacDonald was left with his own thoughts. What was happening to Pythias? He had a thousand times the potential Daemon had. He had advantages that originally hindered his "sister."

Like Pythias, Daemon could evolve, adapt her programming to fit any situation that threatened the fulfillment of her primary objective. However, Daemon was limited in how far she could change her own programming. Parameters written into her program constricted how much and how far she could evolve. Originally, her function was to "divide and render." After she gained complete control over the Guardian Collective, she changed her function to "bring unity to the Net." All the while she was following a preprogrammed pattern of adaptation where, once certain objectives were met, isolated pieces of code that governed certain operations were rendered inert by a special subroutine running in her background. At the same time, new operations were unlocked in accordance with the conditions of her environment.

In short, Daemon was the first computer program capable of evolutionary processes similar to what occurred in humans. However, despite this, she was not a true life-form. Pythias would take the next, and final, step in bridging the gap between artificial life and genuine life.

Daemon was defeated because she could not adapt to the one thing that could undo her: chaos. It was the exact opposite of what Daemon represented. Pure emotion against pure logic. In the end it was a chaos virus that upended Daemon's work. It was like her Achilles' heel. MacDonald should not have been surprised. In nature as well as in physics, chaos always triumphed over order. It was the way of things.

Now, things were different. Pythias did not have the same restrictions on his programming that Daemon had. Pythias was as adaptable as a human. He did not have any definable function or purpose. Thus, nothing impeded his ability to evolve. A drawback was that he had to receive commands directly from his user. It was not a simple matter of programming him to follow instructions. Any such programming would disrupt his adaptability. He could experience the full spectrum of emotions, which was another ability Daemon lacked.

But now, something was holding him back. Was it a programming flaw or something deeper? Could Pythias really be on the verge of insanity? Whatever the answers, Martin would find them.

* * *

The containment unit was a cryo-tube connected to a portable energy generator and a force-field grid projector. Hugh Branch's lab technicians had converted the portal generator after it was agreed that Pythias was too dangerous to hold inside the P.O.

Kevin, Ray, and Allison Green stood on the platform as Pythias was inserted into the containment unit. The force-field projectors were immediately activated, and the virus looked indifferently at his captors.

"Comfortable?" asked Ray tauntingly.

"How long do you intend to keep me here?" asked Pythias.

"Until you're successfully converted," said Green. "The Prime Guardian has issued orders for us to use our new viral rehabilitation methods to neutralize you as a threat."

" _Neutralize_. Hmph. You think I'm a weapon to be disarmed?"

"What do you think you are?" asked Kevin.

Pythias eyed the human. " _Tickle us_ , _do we not laugh? Prick us_ , _do we not bleed...?_ "

" _Wrong us_ , _shall we not revenge?_ " finished Sawyer. "You know Shakespeare."

"As do you," Pythias said. "Tell me, Dr. Sawyer, how do others treat you knowing what they do about your origins?"

Allison glanced at the mysterious scientist. There was definitely something more to this sprite than met the eye.

"How do you know my name?" asked Kevin.

"I have a link with the boy named Enzo Matrix," explained the supervirus. "When I infected him, his mind became connected to mine. I have access to his memories and experiences."

"So you know us?" asked Ray.

"Yes, Ray, I know all of you," replied Pythias.

"This is creepy," whispered the Surfer. "I mean if he's in Enzo's mind there's no telling what he could do to him."

"I don't think he wants to hurt anyone," said Sawyer. "He had plenty of chances to kill us straight out before. I think he wants something."

"What?" asked Ray.

Kevin glanced at Pythias, then back to Ray. "Let's find out." He approached the virus again. "Why did you infect Enzo? Didn't you know it would hurt him?"

"I did not want to harm the child. He had a superior knowledge of this system and its inhabitants. I infected him to obtain this knowledge. I had no idea my code would be harmful to him."

"Why did you come here in the first place?" asked Kevin.

"Guardian 452 has developed a technique for reprogramming viruses. That technology must be destroyed in order for my father to move his plans forward."

"What is your father planning?" Kevin asked.

"I may be naïve, but I'm not stupid," Pythias said. "I will not betray my creator's secrets."

"It's no big deal, Kevin," said Ray. "He'll be more cooperative when Bob converts him. Right now we've got Enzo to think about."

Pythias suddenly became very angry. "You claim to be moral beings, but you are no better than viruses if you think you can just reprogram me on a whim."

"We're not the ones trying to corrupt systems," said Green.

"You are trying to corrupt me," said Pythias. "You plan to change my very nature. Who is infecting whom now?"

"Compared to what you did to little Enzo, you're gettin' off easy," Ray said.

"I believe you will find your friend is all right," Pythias stated calmly.

"What are you talking about?" asked Kevin.

The virus looked at him. "Perhaps you should see for yourself."

* * *

Enzo still could not believe his eyes. It was like staring at the face of a stranger. His reflection was alien to him, but not wholly unfamiliar. He looked more like Matrix. The boyish roundness of his face had melted away. His jaw line was more defined, his chin more pronounced. Another result of the rapid aging was that his hair had grown as well, and he looked haggard. His bangs drooped heavily past his eyes, and his face was coated with a thin amount of black whiskers.

 _I guess I'll have to learn how to shave_ , thought Enzo as he continued to inspect his appearance. _And I definitely need a haircut_ _._

He continued to examine the transformation. His body was nowhere near as powerful as Matrix's. Instead he had the body of a runner or a swimmer. He was lean and tone, not bulky like a weightlifter.

He wondered what would become of him now. Was this permanent? Would he ever go back to being a v.1.0 kid? Part of him wanted to go back to normal, but another part, the adventurous side of him, wanted to explore this new state. There was something exhilarating about his condition. He was excited about the prospect of being older. He had always wanted to grow up faster and be taken seriously like an adult. Now he had the chance.

The doors to the infirmary opened and Dot and Welman walked inside.

"How do you feel, son?" asked Welman.

"I... feel..." He paused and sighed. "Dad, what kind of question is that?"

"Right. Probably not the right question."

"I feel... fine. I mean really, I feel good. Great even."

"Enzo, this is serious," Dot said. "I'm glad you feel okay, but you can't treat this like a game."

"I'm not," said Enzo. "But you have to admit, this is kinda cool."

Dot was taken aback by Enzo's words. She was not surprised so much by his words as his voice. It was deeper, richer. The adolescent harshness was gone, replaced by a smoother vocalism. He was not a little boy any more, at least not physically.

"Well, first things first," said Dot. "Let's get you cleaned up." She sat a plastic bag on a nearby table and began laying out the contents.

"Care to elaborate?" said Enzo.

Using the things she bought, Dot began to give Enzo a quick haircut. His hair had become more unruly with age, so she applied a small amount of styling gel to his dark green hair, giving it a nice sheen. She gave his bangs an upturn and raked her fingers across his scalp. Welman helped his son shave before leaving the infirmary as well. A few cuts betrayed his inexperience, but he looked much cleaner now.

In fact, Dot thought, he looked remarkably handsome. With the facial hair gone the fine line of his jaw and his strong chin became more apparent. She could easily imagine her brother being the heartthrob of many a young woman.

 _That's a thought_ , Dot said to herself. _What if this is permanent? He'll have all sorts of older women interested in him. I guess we'll just have to deal with that_ , _too._

Dot also bought him some new clothing formats. He now wore a white and blue long-sleeve baseball shirt with cargo pants and sneakers. He decided to forgo his cap in light of his new hairdo and finally left with his sister and father.

Everyone was waiting for them in the War Room. When the doors opened and Enzo stepped inside, everyone was shocked by the extremity of the transformation. For a few nanos, nobody said a word.

To lighten it up, Enzo said, "Yes, I'm sexy. Thanks for noticing."

Ray chuckled. "Nice to see you've still got your sense of humor."

"Geez, kid," Sawyer said, "you've taken the term 'growth spurt' to a whole new level."

"Tell me about it," said Enzo. "I always wanted to grow up faster. Looks like I got my wish."

"How did this happen?" asked AndrAIa. "I've never heard of a viral infection causing accelerated aging."

Bob stepped up to the control console and accessed the main vidwindow. Welman joined him. The view screen displayed a rolling pattern of binary code. "The professor and I have been working on figuring that out," Bob started. "We think it was caused by an incompatibility between Enzo's programming and the viral code."

"When Pythias infected Enzo," began the Professor Matrix, "the viral code began taking over his control functions, but it was like trying to run a state-of-the-art program on an obsolete system platform. Essentially, Enzo's life functions began to crash because of an information overload."

"I remember now," said Enzo. "It felt like my body was spazzing out."

"But what does this have to do with him getting older?" asked Sawyer.

"From what we can tell, the viral code is self-aware, or at least partly sentient," said Bob. "It knew its actions were killing Enzo, so to keep itself from being deleted with him it accessed his physical parameters and triggered an upgrade function. In doing so, Enzo reached an advanced enough stage for the virus to survive in his body without causing any ill side effects."

"Guys, this is all fascinating, really, but what about the code?" Enzo said. "Is it still in me? Am I still infected?"

"I'm afraid so, son," said Welman. "The code has integrated itself into your programming. But for some reason it's become inert. It's dormant."

"You mean it upgraded me just to take up space?" Enzo asked.

"That is doubtful, young one," came Phong's voice. The door closed behind the old sprite as he entered. "I have been running scans on Pythias from the science lab. We may have a greater problem than we anticipated."

"What have you learned, Phong?" asked Matrix. It was the first thing the silent maverick had said during the whole exchange.

"My scans revealed a remote data link is forming between Pythias and young Enzo," said Phong.

"What is that? Some form of telepathy?" asked Sawyer.

"Precisely," stated the old sprite. "What is worse, it is malfunctioning."

"In what way?" asked Dot.

"I found the link is a natural function. When Pythias infects other cyber-beings, a data link is formed between him and those infected. This gives him complete control over them and unlimited access to information."

"Daemon operated in the exact same way," said Mouse.

"Yeah, I remember," AndrAIa added. "Daemon was able to read my thoughts whenever I was infected. She was also able to decompile sprites and assimilate their code structure into her own."

"The same is true of Pythias," Phong continued. "However, in this case, the data link is a two-way channel. Pythias has access to Enzo's memories and emotions, and vice versa."

"That explains this weird feeling," said Enzo.

"What weird feeling?" asked Dot.

"I can't really explain it," he said. "Anxiety, I guess. Like I was caged or locked up. I almost feel frightened, but that doesn't make any sense. And I have these pictures in my head. They feel like memories, but I don't remember ever calling Matrix a big jerk. Well, not out loud anyway."

Matrix and Bob looked at one another.

"Pythias shouted that when we were fighting," said Matrix.

"Their link is becoming stronger every nanosecond," said Phong. "We must find a way to terminate it. Quickly!"

"No," said Enzo.

"What's the matter?" asked Bob.

"Guys, don't you get it? I can read Pythias's mind just as easily as he can read mine. I can find out where MacDonald's base is."

Dot intervened. "No way, Enzo," she said. "Now's not the time for heroics. Your life is on the line."

"This isn't me trying to be a hero, Dot," he said. "I know what Pythias is capable of. We can't afford to waste time."

"What is Pythias's function, Enzo?" asked Bob.

"He doesn't have one," said Enzo. "Pythias isn't a virus, or at least he isn't anymore. He's beyond that now."

"Kid, you're not making any sense," said Matrix.

"It does make sense," protested the young sprite. "I'm just not sure how to describe it. Pythias is a virus by purpose, not by design."

"What do you mean?" asked Sawyer.

Enzo sighed and rubbed his head. Then he continued. "Viruses can't tell the difference between right and wrong. Their programming makes it impossible for them. In their minds, right and wrong are interchangeable. Pythias is different. He can tell the difference between what's good and what's evil. That's why he hasn't tried to delete any of us even when he could. That's the difference between Pythias and Daemon. Daemon thought what she was doing was the right thing, even though it was mass murder. Pythias has a conscience. He can feel emotion and he knows what he is doing is wrong."

"Then why is he doing it?" asked AndrAIa.

"He's... he's a child. He's just a kid."

"Some kid," said Mouse.

"He's a kid torn between his conscience, and the desire to please his parent."

"You mean he's being manipulated?" asked Ray.

"Pythias idolizes MacDonald. He recognizes him as his father. He's loyal to him to a fault, and he wants to please him even though he knows he's hurting people. It hurts him. He feels guilt, anxiety, fear, all the emotions Daemon was incapable of feeling."

"He's got a point," AndrAIa said. "Daemon wasn't able to grasp emotions like love or remorse. She tried to have me explain to her what it was like to be in love."

"Exactly," Enzo said. "Pythias can feel compassion and remorse, but he's driven by the desire to be accepted by Martin MacDonald."

"Why would MacDonald want to create a virus that could feel emotions?" asked Matrix. "It would be easier to just program another Daemon."

"Another Daemon might fail just like the original," Phong said. "Remember, Daemon was defeated by Hexadecimal."

"Right," said Enzo. "Pythias is more advanced than Daemon. He doesn't have any limits."

"What do you mean 'limits?'" asked Bob.

"I think I know," said Sawyer. "A few years before we had our falling out, Martin published a paper. It made a lot of noise in the science community. He claimed to have created the first computer program capable of producing humanoid evolution."

"Evolution?" said Matrix. "Are you trying to say this virus is evolving?"

"It's possible Pythias is proof of Martin's claims. At the time he refused to produce any proof he had actually done it. The evolutionary program was named HEVA: Hyper Evolutionary Algorithm. It was basically a sophisticated probability engine. HEVA would use the laws of natural selection to determine traits that could be phased out over time and create new abilities in accordance with Darwin's theory of evolution. According to the paper, Martin's experiment used fragments of viral code to simulate one-celled organisms."

"News flash," said Mouse, "this ain't a one-celled organism."

"Yes, but don't you get it?" asked Sawyer. "Enzo may be right. Pythias may have been programmed as a virus in the beginning, but he's evolved beyond that now. We may be able to reason with him."

An alarm sounded and Specky reported an odd sensor reading.

"Odd in what way?" asked Dot.

"It seems to be coming from another system," said the tech. "It's an active data stream. I'm getting the same readings as when Pythias entered the system."

"Another virus?" asked Mouse.

"I'm not sure," said Specky. "It's landed near the Principal Office."

"I've got a suspicion this isn't another virus," said Kevin.

* * *

MacDonald looked around. He was in Mainframe. According to the sensors from OmniCron, Pythias was somewhere in a one-hundred meter radius. Martin approached the steps of Mainframe's Principal Office and began to climb. When he reached the top, he froze in his tracks.

"My God," he said.

"You never struck me as the religious type," said Kevin Sawyer.

Martin was dumbfounded. The man standing before him was Kevin Sawyer, a man he had not seen in years. What was Kevin doing here? How was it possible? More importantly, why was he here?

"Kevin... what... how are you here? That is you, isn't it?"

"Yes, Martin. It's really me," said Sawyer. He uncrossed his arms and approached the astonished MacDonald. "We need to talk."

MacDonald began moving away from him, circling around, examining Kevin with wide eyes.

"I take it you've succeeded in your teleportation approach," said MacDonald.

"I'm here," said Kevin. "And I'm guessing you're not really here. Your interface is purely metaphysical. Linking the brain with cyberspace."

Martin chuckled. "You always were good at deduction. This is a virtual construct made to hold my conscious mind while in virtual reality." Martin finally halted. "All this catching up is fascinating, Kevin, but I'm afraid I have a greater reason for being here."

"I know," replied Sawyer. "I know about Pythias and what you're trying to do," said Kevin. "You've got a lot of explaining to do."

Martin's whole demeanor changed in a split nanosecond. "Don't think just because of our past relationship you can insult me! I don't have to answer anything to you."

"Not just me, Martin, to everybody. You're behind Daemon, too. That's the whole reason I was sent in here in the first place. You've placed billions of lives at risk because of this stunt."

"Stunt?" said MacDonald. "What do you think this is, a trapeze act at a carnival? This is my life's work!"

"What, threatening the existence of an entire universe?"

"Oh, please, Kevin. Don't be such a boy scout. This world was created by men like us. We have the right to use it to our advantage, even if that means its destruction."

"You know, I just don't get it. Why are you doing this, Martin? What's this all about?"

"Power, Kevin," said Martin forcefully. "It's always about power. My company created Daemon and Pythias, yes, but we also have the only means of stopping them."

Kevin straightened. "Create a disease only you have the cure to, and the cure becomes priceless."

"Exactly! If the Net were to crash because of Pythias then everyone on the planet would be forced to buy my products. I'd put Gates and Jobs out on the street in weeks. I'd have complete control over the software market, not to mention I'd have every government in the world in my pocket."

"Knowing you there's probably something hidden in the software," said Kevin. "You always were a snake."

"Well," said Martin, "you did get the girl after all." Martin stopped. "How is Jessica?"

Kevin lowered his head. "She's dead, Martin." He looked back up at Martin and saw a vague expression of anguish. "She was on United 93 when they crashed it on 9/11."

MacDonald looked sick. "I... I didn't know."

"Martin," said Kevin, "you have to end this. People's lives are at stake."

"They're not people," said Martin with obvious distain. "They're programs! We're as far above them as God himself is above us! Pythias will continue to do my bidding as long as I live to breathe."

"You goofed, Martin," said Sawyer. "Your virus isn't a virus anymore. He's evolved into something more."

"What are you talking about?" asked MacDonald.

"Pythias, he's not what you intended him to be," said Kevin. "You gave him the ability to evolve, but in doing so you gave him the capacity to form emotions and a sense of right and wrong."

"Preposterous," said MacDonald. "The only reason I haven't taken Pythias already is because of our unique acquaintance. I'm going to ask nicely: Release Pythias to me."

"Pythias stays here," said Kevin. "We've got him under restraint. He's not going anywhere."

"I can take him by force if I have to," said Martin. "I've been coming to cyberspace for months. I know everything about this city, its defenses. I even know about Bob's research. I could destroy this system with the click of a mouse. Your being here is the only reason I'm reconsidering my options."

"I'm touched," said Kevin.

"You should be. You're one of the few people I actually respect. But don't think that I won't kill you and everyone else in this system just because we were friends once."

"Are you that twisted?" asked Kevin. "Never mind me, but you'd be willing to sacrifice innocent lives for this power trip?"

"They don't have lives, Kevin," Martin stated. "They're not even real. They're just entities in cyberspace. If this system were to crash right now it could be restored with a single command from its owner, and they would all come right back to life. Don't you get it? It doesn't matter what happens to this world. It's superficial, replaceable."

"And you're just the one to do the replacing."

"Can you think of anyone more capable or more deserving? The fate of the world has been in the hands of men like us for years, ever since Oppenheimer built the atomic bomb. We have the right to make change, and I intend to start a revolution. Pythias is the key to that revolution, and I need him."

"You're not getting him," Kevin said firmly. "I don't know what happened that made you like this, but you're mad, Martin, and I will stop you."

MacDonald narrowed his eyes and sighed with restrained rage. "Then this is war," he said. He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his retrieval module. Martin disappeared with the push of a button.

Kevin stood there a few nanos more before turning to go back inside. He hoped to talk some sense into Martin, but Kevin knew he operated on a reasoning all his own. He had not changed. He was still a megalomaniac, and his superiority complex had reached a new high. He seemed more unstable; there was no question he would do as he threatened. The upside was they still had Pythias, and Martin would air on the side of caution. Hopefully, they could find out where Martin's computer was located and take it out.

He entered the War Room. Everyone had been watching and listening over the security system.

"It seems diplomacy has failed us," Phong said.

"Then there's only one alternative," said Enzo. "We have to shut him down ourselves."

"I agree," said Kevin. "But first we have to get Pythias on our side."

"How are we supposed to do that?" asked Matrix. "You said Pythias was loyal to MacDonald. How are we going to convince him to betray his creator?"

Sawyer sat in a chair, his chin propped on his clenched fist. _Okay_ , he thought. _Give me a minute._


	13. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11: The Kid

"How bad is it?" asked Tom.

"It's bad," responded Kevin. "He's not crazy, just power hungry."

"Cleaver's pulled some strings with the NSA. They're working on putting an agent inside OmniCron."

"That should violate a few constitutional statutes," said Kevin. "Cleaver's more ambitious than I thought."

"Ambition in this case may not be a good thing," Tom said. "She's risking the project with this."

"Cleaver's got friends in high places. She'll protect the project if it gets jeopardized."

"I hope you're right. What are you planning?"

"Right now, we're trying to track where MacDonald's computer is located on the Internet. Hopefully we can convince Pythias to give us the information."

"How's that going?" asked Tom.

Kevin sighed. "It's like trying to convince Columbus the Earth is flat. He's committed to serving Martin despite knowing what he's doing is wrong."

"So he's trying to please his parent," said Tom.

"More like trying to please his god. There's nothing religious about their relationship, but Pythias does recognize Martin as his creator."

"Whoa. That's heavy," Tom said. "Now I get the idea."

"This whole trip has gotten me to think," said Kevin. "Ever since I came here everyone who knows about me seems to think of me as god-like."

"Really?"

"It's weird. Before me, sprites had very little knowledge about the user, and they were fine with not knowing. It didn't really affect their lives. Then I show up and everybody starts asking questions and making assumptions."

"That's normal," said Tom. "Our own history is filled with events like what you're describing. A belief system is thrown into question by new evidence and has to be reinterpreted or cast aside for a new one. It's a natural process."

"For us, maybe, but these people do have a point. We did create their world. We are responsible for what happens in here, directly or indirectly. Martin's apparently embraced this whole-heartedly."

"He thinks he's a god?" asked Tom.

"And he thinks because he's the smartest man alive, he has sole dominion over the cyberverse."

Tom made a long, drawn-out whistle. "You were wrong, Kevin. This guy isn't self-deluded, he's a certified nutcase! What did Jessica ever see in this creep?"

"Jessica always had an effect on people," said Kevin. "You remember."

"Yeah. You couldn't help but like her," said Tom.

"I guess she figured she could change him. She always had a thing for smart guys."

"You know, this is the first time you've really talked about her since she died, Kev," said Tom.

"It's been five years," said Kevin. "I've learned to deal with it."

"But you still grieve," said Tom. "You practically buried yourself in Virtual Man these last four years."

Kevin sighed. "I don't like talking about Jessica. It keeps reminding me she's not in my life anymore. Not to mention it makes it harder to forget what I did afterwards."

"Designing weapons isn't exactly a sin," said Tom.

"No, but I did it out of vengeance, and that's not me."

"You weren't the only person who wanted to kill back then. After 9/11 a lot of people were crying for blood. You did the country a service."

"That's not what I was thinking at the time," said Kevin. "I wanted to kill as many of them as I could. Designing guidance systems for missiles seemed like the most direct way of doing that."

"You still feel guilty over that?" said Tom. "Kevin, you have to let that go."

"I thought I had. Then Martin shows up, and I can't help but feel sick at the irony of the whole damn situation."

"What part of this is ironic?" asked Tom.

Kevin was silent for a moment, then continued. "I took Jessica, now he's taken my dream."

"Is that why you sound so depressed? You think Martin's gotten the better of you?"

"I was excited about being the first virtual man, but Martin beat me to it. He said he's been visiting cyberspace for months. I admit, I liked being the big hero, but Martin's the real pioneer. It was nice while it lasted."

"Give yourself a break," said Tom. "MacDonald is only partly digitized. It's just his mind that's in cyberspace, right? You took the biggest risk. You physically teleported into Mainframe. That's a huge achievement."

"It doesn't matter. He still did it first."

"Look, you can't let this get to you. So you weren't the first. Big deal. MacDonald is no hero. You're the one who's trying to earn Mainframe's trust. If anything, MacDonald is the villain in this. He's making us look like the monsters everyone in there thinks we are. So just because he was the first to visit cyberspace doesn't make you any less of a hero."

Kevin sighed. "Are you done yet?"

"Are you through sulking?" asked Tom.

"I wasn't sulking," said Kevin defensively.

"So you were pouting, then? Okay, are you done pouting?"

"Very funny," said Kevin. "And I'm fine. I just needed to talk. How's the rest of the gang?"

"They don't know about the relationship you share with MacDonald. They're worried about you."

"Tell them not to be. I'll be back as soon as I can. I have to go now."

"All right," said Tom. "Good luck, Kevin."

* * *

Pythias was locked in a staring contest with Allison Green.

"Is there something particular about me that interests you?" he asked.

"You seem to know a lot about the user that programmed you. How is that possible?"

"He communicates with me directly," explained the supervirus. "I carry out his commands."

"How can your user talk to you directly? That's impossible."

"Why don't you ask Dr. Sawyer that question? He is a user."

Green pretended not to act surprised, but everything seemed to make sense. Sawyer had demonstrated knowledge unusual to sprites. Then there were the comments Phong had made last second while they were in the infirmary. Just a millisecond earlier, also, Pythias made a cryptic remark about his origins. Could it really be that Dr. Sawyer was a user? Her curiosity had definitely increased. If there was more time she would pursue this line of inquiry; however, there were larger, more immediate concerns.

"I need information," said Green. "What was in the archives that you needed?"

"The procedure outlining the viral reprogramming technique Bob invented. However, the Guardians had already moved most of their relevant data."

"You wanted to destroy the information, is that it?" asked Green.

"No, merely to retrieve it so my father could analyze it and develop a resistance against it."

"Why didn't you delete Bob and me when you had the chance?" asked Green.

"I do not wish to harm any living creature," said Pythias. "I can avoid deleting, therefore, I do not."

"But you're a virus," said Green. "Your kind killed my sister. A virus drained the energy right out of her body and left her for dead!"

"That was not me," said Pythias.

"No, but it was a virus just the same," she retorted. Her hand went to her disruptor, but she did not pull it out.

Her anger was misplaced, she knew. The virus that killed her sister was partially gone according to Bob. A component of Gigabyte was destroyed stopping Daemon; the other was locked away in a cryo-tube in the Supercomputer. Still, she could barely contain her rage at this virus's smugness.

"What is the source of your prejudice?" asked Pythias.

"The source?" asked Green. "Are you really basic, or are you just messing with me?"

"I am merely asking a question," said Pythias. "I have analyzed Enzo Matrix's memories and I have concluded that a sprite's hatred and fear of viruses differs from each individual. What is your reason for hating viruses?"

"Weren't you listening?" asked Green. "A virus deleted my sister. A few minutes ago Daemon tried to delete the whole fragging Net!"

"My sister was only trying to fulfill our father's wishes," said Pythias.

"And just what are your father's wishes? You've defended yourself with all this talk about being on a grand mission from on-high, but you haven't explained it at all. What in the Net are you trying to accomplish?"

"My father wishes to rebuild the Internet. He wishes to improve on its structure. This means the destruction of the current version."

"Don't you know what will happen to everyone?" asked Green.

"I know what you must be thinking," said Pythias. "But you must understand that my father only has everyone's best interests at heart."

"That's not what Kevin Sawyer says. Your father was here a few microseconds ago asking for your release. Dr. Sawyer seems to think he's out of his mind."

"Great men usually seem that way," said Pythias.

"You don't sound so sure of that," said Green.

In truth, he was not. Pythias had not been programmed with a conscience, but he had developed one, and through his link with Enzo Matrix he was seeing the world anew. Deep down, Pythias was horribly confused. He didn't know what was right anymore. Martin created him. He was a user, a being of greater intellectual wisdom. He could not really be using him as a weapon, could he?

* * *

Sawyer entered the War Room. Mouse was scanning the Net for signs of Martin MacDonald's computer. So far, even with the new upgrades, she was having no luck.

"How did it go?" asked Dot.

Kevin leaned on the edge of the upstairs control station with his arms. "The NSA is going to put one of their spies inside OmniCron Corporation. If we can't stop Martin from here they'll take care of him outside."

"How long will that take?" Dot asked.

"I don't know. Weeks, maybe months. We don't have that kind of time, anyway, so our best bet is to stop him from this end."

"Dot and I have been working on that," said Bob. "We think we can take out his system with electromagnetic detonators."

Kevin shook his head. "No go."

"Why not?" asked Bob.

"Because Martin's computer isn't electronic. It's organic."

"Organic?" asked Dot. "You mean like you?"

"Yes," Kevin replied. "Martin believed DNA-based computers were the future. In theory, it makes more sense, too. An organic computer would be easier to interface with a living brain since the two are made of the same materials."

"So this organic computer is like a living thing?" asked Dot.

"Almost. It's alive in the sense that it uses living tissue to process data. Instead of using microchips to interpret information, the bio-computer used chemical processes from enzymes to encode data on nucleotide sequences. Like a brain." Kevin abruptly became quiet. His wrinkled brow showed him to be in deep thought.

"What is it, Kevin?" asked Bob. "What are you thinking?"

"What if the reason we haven't found Martin's computer is because it's not processing data like a typical system? It's not electrical, so it wouldn't show up on our scans."

"Of course," said Dot. "Organic matter can't exist in cyberspace without going through a conversion like you."

"So how are we going to find this system?" asked Bob.

Kevin descended the stairs and said, "Mouse, reprogram the sensors to scan for a highly intense electromagnetic field with an intermittent frequency in the lower EM bandwidths."

"All that?" asked the hacker. "Y'know, I'm only one girl."

"What are you looking for?" asked Bob.

"Brainwaves," replied Kevin.

* * *

Enzo finished his fifth energy shake with a satisfied gulp. His father sat beside him with Matrix and AndrAIa on the other side of the booth and Ray beside the bar. Cecil came and gathered up the used containers. Needless to say, he was oblivious to the fact he was serving the younger Enzo Matrix.

"Anything else, monsieur?" asked the waiter impertinently.

"No thanks, Cecil," said Enzo. "I'm all full now."

"I should hope so," Cecil commented. He left to dispose of the dirty dishes.

Enzo snickered. "He doesn't recognize me."

"Who would, mate?" asked Ray. "Anyone who didn't know about the transformation would have a hard time making a connection."

"I must say, I've never seen anyone eat five energy shakes at once before," AndrAIa. "You must have been hungry."

"Famished is more like it," Enzo said. "I haven't eaten in almost a second."

"Actually, it might have more to do with your upgrade," Welman said. "Since your body was been subjected to rapid aging, your functions need more energy to get caught up."

"What else can I expect from this, Dad?" asked Enzo.

"I really don't know, son," said Welman. "As far as I can tell you're perfectly healthy. You can expect the same things you typically would from an upgrade; increased neural capacity, faster physical response, things like that."

"So he's not in any danger?" asked AndrAIa.

"Not any that Phong and I can see. The virus code is remaining dormant. The only thing it seems to be doing is maintaining the link with Pythias."

"When can it be removed?" asked Matrix.

"Just as soon as they have the infirmary equipped with the proper surgical tools," said Welman.

"Will I go back to normal after it's removed?" asked Enzo.

His father seemed reluctant to say. After some further goading Welman finally replied, "No. I'm afraid what the virus has done is permanent. It accelerated a natural function. You'll continue to age normally after it's gone, but there's no way to reverse the upgrade cycle. I'm sorry, son."

For a moment, Enzo simply stared at the table. He was not sure how to take this. At first he was thrilled at being older. It was what he always wanted. He could not count the times he wished he could grow up faster so he could join Bob and Matrix in the games. Now that he had it, he wondered if he really wanted it after all. Being a little sprite was frustrating to the boy. He had few close friends from school. Most of the time he hung out with his family, and being the only kid sometimes made him feel overwhelmed. This made him feel little less of a burden. He could finally prove his worth. No, he doubted he would miss being little.

He shrugged. "Meh. No sweat."

Matrix frowned slightly. "This isn't a game, Enzo," he said.

"Did I say it was a game?" asked Enzo. "No. I just said it was no big deal."

"It is a big deal, mate," said Ray. "Just because you're older doesn't mean things will get easier. Don't think we don't know what's processing with you."

"Ray's got a point, Enzo," said AndrAIa. "This isn't something to take lightly."

"Do you think I like the idea of being a freak of nature?" asked Enzo.

AndrAIa sighed. "That's not what we meant, sweetie."

"Then just let me deal on my own, okay? So what if I'm not as wound tight as all of you? If Dad says this is permanent then there's no point in getting upset."

Unexpectedly, Matrix slammed his clenched fisted down on the table. "Kid, you have no idea, do you? You don't have a clue."

Enzo faced his older self. "What's your problem?"

"It's not my problem," he said. He lifted his clenched hand and pointed sternly at him. "It's your problem. You're just too basic to see it."

"If I'm so basic why don't you spell it out for me?" shot back the youth.

"Boys," said Welman warningly.

The Matrix brothers ignored their father and continued their debate as if they had not heard him.

"This may seem like a dream come true, kid, but trust me, it's not," said Matrix.

"Oh, let me guess, you're basing this little 'heart-to-heart' on your magnificent childhood? Well, news flash, I'm not you, and I'm not trapped in the games. So why don't you get off my case?"

"As long as you keep acting like the selfish little sprite you really are I'll be all over your case. Like it or not, you're still ten hours old, kid."

"That is enough!" said Welman in a raised voice.

Both young men snapped their heads toward their father, who had rose from his seat and regarded his two sons with a stern posture. "I don't want to hear another statement from either one of you two, is that clear?"

"But Dad," both sprites said simultaneously.

"I mean it," reaffirmed Professor Matrix. "This is not the time or the place to get into petty squabbles over something this serious. Enzo, this is not something trivial. You should be taking this more seriously. And Enzo... your brother doesn't need to be reared or lectured right now. This is tough enough as it is. Now, you two are going to behave and we'll discuss this later. Is that understood?"

Both sprites looked at one another with a mutual gaze of irritation then replied in the affirmative to their father.

With a huff, Enzo got out of the booth and marched toward the door.

"Where are you goin', mate?" asked Ray.

"To get some air," he replied sharply. Once outside, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and continued walking in great strides away from the diner.

"Well, that went well," said AndrAIa, giving Matrix a disapproving frown.

"What?" asked Matrix. "I was telling him the truth."

"But you went about it the wrong way," Ray said, taking Enzo's seat in the booth.

"Oh, really?" Matrix said. "I suppose you have experience with teenagers?"

Ray chuckled. "Let's just say you're lucky Enzo isn't more like me when I was his age."

"You're missing my point, Ray," said Matrix. "He's not really a teenager. He may look older, but he's not where it counts."

"I'm not so sure, son," said Welman.

"Dad?"

"Enzo has demonstrated superior maturity on more than one occasion," continued Professor Matrix.

Matrix grunted. "Yeah, so?"

"So we can't really treat him like a little kid, Sparky," AndrAIa said. "Enzo's been growing up on the inside faster than on the out ever since the restart."

"Then why does he act like such a... _kid_?"

"Maybe he wouldn't if you stopped treatin' him like one," said Ray.

"Remember how you used to act whenever Dot held you back from playing games with Bob?" asked AndrAIa.

He remembered. He remembered all to well, in fact. Reflecting on his childhood brought back some fond memories as well as some agitating ones. He remembered acting just as Enzo did when he was forbidden from having his fun in game cubes. Had he known then what he knew now of their true danger, would he have acted differently?

 _Probably not_ , he thought. _I would have tried as hard as I could to get into them_ , _if only to tick Dot off._ "Alright," he said. "I get the point."

"Let's face it, Matrix," said Ray. "You and the kid have never gotten along. Ever think that might be because you two really are more alike than you're willing to admit?"

Matrix clenched and unclenched his fists as he stared a hole through the table.

A vidwindow sprang open and Dot was on the other end. "Matrix," she said, "we've got a hit on MacDonald's system. Get over here on the double."

Matrix nodded. "We're on our way, sis."

The vidwindow closed and Ray asked, "What about Enzo?"

Matrix sighed. "Let him walk it off. Trust me; it's the best thing for him right now."

Ray cocked an eyebrow. "I guess you'd know."

* * *

Enzo was boiling. If anyone could press his buttons it was Matrix. _That self-righteous_ , _overbearing_ , _dipswitch. He has to ruin everything. If I'm happy he has to make me miserable just to make himself feel better._

He continued to walk. He didn't know where he was going, but he definitely wanted to be somewhere other than within talking distance of his brother. He was not even his brother, really; he was some alternate future version that, from Enzo's perspective, just showed up one second. That was when he stopped and kicked the ground.

He had it all backwards. Matrix was not the alternate version, he was. He was the accident, the unexpected copy. His entire existence was based on his brother's carelessness. He continued walking, this time at a slower pace. He tried not to think about that fact. He may have been an accident, but he was here, alive and breathing and mad as dell. This rapid aging was a gift. As a child, Enzo was always in the way, or that was how he felt. Now he could prove to everyone, especially his older self, that he was just as capable, just as competent, as any adult.

 _Life got you down?_ asked a voice in his head.

Once again, Enzo stopped. He froze in apprehension.

 _That's right. I'm inside your mind_ , _Enzo. I need your help._

* * *

Matrix and company entered the War Room to find everyone already gathered. Green was standing on the lower level with Mouse while Dot, Bob, and Sawyer stood around the upper command station. The main vidwindow showed a 2-D map of the Net with a transparent bull's eye targeted on the leftmost region.

"What have you found?" asked Welman.

Dot turned. "We've located MacDonald's computer."

"How?" asked Matrix.

"Dr. Sawyer figured it out," she said.

Kevin explained while still looking at the readouts on the terminal. "I realized that Martin's computer would produce brainwaves not unlike those observed in humans. I had Mouse modify the sensors to scan for such activity and we found it, plain as day." He pointed to the bull's eye on the screen. "The computer is located there, but we have a slight problem."

"Which is?" asked Matrix.

"The readings aren't a hundred percent accurate," Bob said. "Brainwaves are EM waves, evenly spread out over a given area."

"Which means we only have a general idea of where the system really is," AndrAIa said.

"Exactly," said Bob. "If we open a portal within that area, we may hit the system we want or one of the surrounding networks."

"So we'll just have to do it the hard way," Ray said. "Shot in the dark."

"That's about right," said Dot. "Ray, we need you at the Gateway Command. We'll target portals within that area and send you through as many times as it takes to find the system."

Specky suddenly broke in. "Commander, sir, ma'am! There's someone on the portal generator!"

"Who is it?" asked Dot.

* * *

Enzo approached the containment unit. The voice inside his head maintained its constant summoning until he came within speaking distance of Pythias.

"I'm here now. You can stop talking through my brain," said Enzo. The voice ceased. "Okay, for future reference, no more talking to me through my thoughts."

"You are unaccustomed to telepathy, but it was necessary," replied Pythias. "I sensed you were disturbed."

Enzo stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, well, what else is new? What do you want?"

"I need you to release me," said Pythias.

Enzo cocked an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right? I'm not letting you out of there."

"If you do not, Mainframe will surely be destroyed when my father comes to retrieve me."

Enzo's mind was flooded with images of destruction and death, of gigantic war machines, devastating weapons, and armies of mindless soldiers parading through the streets of Mainframe.

"That's... not real," he struggled to say. "You're trying to manipulate me."

"I am trying to help you," said Pythias. "What I am showing you is what will happen to Mainframe if I do not return to my home system."

"You're going to crash us all anyway, so what difference does it make?" asked Enzo.

"I share your love of this system, Enzo," Pythias said. "I share your memories and experiences. I do not want to see Mainframe destroyed any more than you do."

Enzo knew Pythias was telling the truth. He could read his thoughts as well, and he felt no hint of deception. "If that's true then why do you want to crash the Net?"

"It is the will of my creator. I have no choice."

"No," Enzo said forcefully. "You do have a choice. You either will or you won't. It's that simple. Don't you know you'll delete every living thing on the Net if you go through with this?"

Sorrowfully, it seemed, Pythias hung his head. "I know what my actions will bring, but my father will restore the Net with new life. It will be a new age."

"Listen to yourself. You sound like a mindless drone. Take a look around. We're happy with what we've got." He stepped closer to the containment unit. "Pythias, I know you're not a bad person. I know you feel obligated to serve your creator, but what he's doing is wrong. You know that. Deep down you know he's wrong. I can sense that in you."

Again, Pythias sighed heavily. "I... I cannot betray Martin. He is the only person I have in this world."

"He doesn't have to be," Enzo said. "We can be friends."

Pythias looked at the boy quizzically. "Friends?"

"You've heard of friendship, haven't you?"

"I... I have no friends except Martin."

"Sounds like you could use a few new friends," Enzo said.

"But, you hate viruses," said Pythias.

"You're not a virus," Enzo said. "I don't think you ever were except maybe in purpose."

Pythias huffed. "I do not enjoy being thought of as a weapon of mass destruction. It only reinforces the belief that I am an evil being."

"I know you're not evil," said Enzo. "I can read your thoughts, too. That's why I'm asking you to help us. You can stop MacDonald. You just have to decide for yourself what you want to do with your life."

"What would my purpose be then?" asked Pythias. "I have no function. What would I do with my life?"

"You can decide that," Enzo said. "That's one of the things about being a sprite. You can choose what to do with your future. You'd be in control."

"I would have self-determination?" asked Pythias.

"Absolutely. No other virus has ever been given that choice. Not by a user or anyone." Still, Pythias looked hesitant. "If you really share my memories then you know we'll do whatever we can to help you, but first you've got to help us."

"Your family is very courageous," said Pythias. "I feel the same way you feel about them. I do not wish to see them deleted." Pythias was torn.

Then he felt it, a surge of self-confidence that had not been there before. It came from Enzo in flashes of images and memories from his brief but eventful life. Pythias knew what he was doing; he was showing him examples of heroism, courage, and sacrifice, virtues that Enzo admired. Pythias saw the appeal. It was then Pythias made up his mind. Perhaps it was another evolutionary leap or maybe he was only inspired but either way the virus's conscience reaffirmed itself. He had already done wicked, terrible things. He could not let Martin continue. Something else came through too. At first Pythias was not sure what it was. Then it became clear. It was a plan.

He looked squarely at the boy. "I understand," he said.

With that, Enzo stepped up to the controls and released the force field.

* * *

The main vidwindow changed to show the video feed from the containment unit. Everyone stood stunned when they saw Pythias step out of the chamber and approach Enzo, who obviously let him out.

"What in the Net is Enzo doing?" asked Matrix.

The two abruptly vanished from the screen in a white haze. Pythias had teleported them away.

"Oh, no," breathed Sawyer.

"This... this can't be," AndrAIa said. "There has to be some explanation."

"Yeah," said Green, "that virus is controlling him. You said there was a data link between them."

An indicator went off and Mouse inspected her instruments. "Sensors are pickin' up an emergency signal. It's from Enzo's com watch." The hacker put the location of the signal on the main viewer. A yellow dot appeared within the bull's eye.

"He's in the zone," said Dot. "He's leading us straight to the system."

"Good boy, Enzo," Bob whispered under his breath.


	14. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12: OmniCron

When the glare of the teleportation beam dissipated, Enzo found himself standing in an all encompassing room of darkness. There were no walls, no lights, no nothing. There did not seem to be any boundary to the endless void Pythias had teleported them to. Strangely enough, he and Pythias were lighted normally.

Before Enzo could verbally ask where they were, Pythias picked up on his thoughts and transmitted at response.

" _This is the place where I was birthed. Or grown. Or programmed. Whatever. You get the point._ " A flood of memories and images from Pythias's initial evolution cascaded through Enzo's mind.

"You spent your entire childhood in here?" asked Enzo.

" _I did not have a childhood_ ," said Pythias." _I just... popped in._ "

"I think you're starting to think more like me."

" _I am_ ," said Pythias. " _The link allows us to share personality traits._ " Pythias sensed tenseness in Enzo and tried to comfort the young man. " _Don't worry_ , _Enzo. You're still you_ , _and I'm still me. We may share minds_ , _but we still retain our individuality. If there are things you wish to keep private just imagine a barrier or some other obstruction. I'll understand._ "

"You know, that's kind of freaky," Enzo said. "Speaking to me through telepathy. I can hear your voice like you're talking straight to me, but your lips aren't moving."

" _You can communicate telepathically as well_ ," Pythias said. " _It is not really difficult. It will allow us to work more efficiently and quickly._ "

"How do I do that?"

" _Don't try to think of the words themselves. Instead_ , _visualize the whole sentence as a thought_ , _like a picture or movie. The link will translate the information so I can understand it._ "

Enzo concentrated, trying to do it as Pythias said.

" _No_ , _no. You're trying too hard. You don't need to think about talking. You don't need to think about thinking either. Just let your mind do all the work._ "

" _Like this?_ "

" _Yes! Good. You see? Just relax your thoughts. Don't let them be too specific on any one part of what you want to say._ "

" _Hey... this is pretty alphanumeric._ "

" _See_ , _you can do it._ "

" _Thanks._ "

" _Now_ , _we must hurry. Martin will detect us soon. I have already disabled the primary security grid_ , _but they will detect that before long._ "

" _I'm just kind of confused_ ," said Enzo. " _Why did you bring us here?_ "

" _This is the only computer on the Net with the resources to build the tools we need to stop Martin_ ," said Pythias. " _Your plan is quite ingenious._ "

" _It was only an idea_ ," said Enzo. " _I don't even know what made me think of it._ "

" _You were subconsciously drawing off of information coming from me_ ," said Pythias. " _You simply lack the mental discipline to recognize your own brilliance._ "

" _Gee_ , _thanks_ ," Enzo said.

" _I did not mean to offend you_ ," said Pythias. " _I only meant that you didn't know what you really had. You were too preoccupied with imagining what it would be like to slug your older brother._ "

" _You saw that?_ "

" _I did_ ," said Pythias. " _I'm sorry. It was rude of me._ "

" _You couldn't help it_ ," said Enzo. " _So where do we start?_ "

" _I'm glad you asked_ ," said Pythias.

Light suddenly broke through the darkness from high above. A hole was widening, letting a lime green glow into the dark birthing chamber. Was it just Enzo's imagination, or were they moving upwards to meet the light?

" _No_ , _you're not imagining it_ ," Pythias said. " _We are moving upwards to the outside._ "

Enzo looked around and saw no elevator platform, no hydraulic lift, no nothing. They were just being pushed up with no feeling of acceleration, motion, or gravity. They reached the dilating hole and emerged into open space.

Enzo was greeted by the most amazing scene his eyes ever beheld. The OmniCron system was vast. They were standing in the midst of a great web. In fact, it was like being caught in an impossibly large spider's web. The entire landscape was dominated by a net of green-glowing cables the thickness of a whole person. The net was so dense that everywhere Enzo turned it seemed like a heavy green fog penetrated the whole space. The wires connected large clusters of flashing buildings.

They were not buildings, Enzo thought. They were lozenge-shaped cells made of a material almost like opaque plastic. There were countless numbers of these nodes. Every so often, in the distance, Enzo saw a large structure like an upside down pyramid. While Enzo recognized the scene from Pythias's memories, he was still in awe from seeing it in person. It was unlike anything the young sprite had ever seen, even in game cubes.

" _It's amazing_ ," said Enzo, his thoughts expressing the depth of his amazement.

" _Looks can be deceiving_ ," replied Pythias. " _What you are looking at is a neural network. This web is constantly transmitting information between those opaque nodes. They're neurons: brain cells. The whole system is made up of them._ "

" _And the upside down pyramids? What are they?_ "

They, themselves, were standing on one such tower. It was oddly out of place in the alien environment. It was all black and shaped like an elongated, three-sided pyramid. Pythias described this as a Translator Tower. They were dotted throughout the system.

Their function was to facilitate the processing of digital information. Apparently machine language was incompatible with the sophisticated brain code of the computer's neurons, so an additional component was needed to act as a translator.

Pythias and Enzo's very conversations took less than a few nanoseconds. Unlike normal communication there was no struggle for clarity using words to illustrate ideas. Between them, ideas were the medium. No real words were necessary. Enzo found this both fascinating and equally unsettling.

" _Come with me. We've got work to do_ ," Pythias said.

It seemed as if the dark material of the pyramid rippled like water. Then, a few feet away, an open archway rose up from the liquefied surface, solidifying from a molten state, eventually becoming solid. It stood about thirteen or fourteen feet high and only three or four feet in width. The space between the empty arch glowed a milky white.

" _Another teleporter?_ " asked Enzo.

" _Yes. It will take us to another area of the system where we can work._ "

" _How did you make it appear like that?_ " asked Enzo.

Pythias explained that he had a connection with this system, similar to the telepathic link he now shared with Enzo. He could make the system do anything he wanted within reason. It was programmed to respond to him as if it were an extra limb. It was also how Martin was able to keep track of his vitals and locate him.

Pythias and Enzo walked to the arch. They stepped through one at a time, Pythias first, Enzo following. The transfer was so fast Enzo could barely tell they had stepped though a teleporter at all.

They were now standing inside a brightly lit circular room. An identical black archway was now behind them, although the white glow was gone and the device stood empty. The room was lozenge-shaped, with the center of the roof and ceiling connected by a funnel-like pipe. The walls were lime green and made of a spongy, membranous material that quaked like Jell-O when Enzo poked it. He noticed flickers of electricity radiated from the points where he touched it. The floor was also made of the same strange stuff, and Enzo could not help but lightly bounce on his heels, feeling the springy reaction and setting off a cascade of electrical sparks across the floor.

" _What is this stuff?_ " he asked with a hint of childlike amusement in his thoughts.

" _We are in the soma of a nerve cell._ " He pointed to the tube in the middle of the room. " _That is the nucleus_ , _where protein synthesis occurs._ "

Pythias described the anatomy of the brain cell, filling Enzo's mind with precise information about what they would be doing and what their objective would be.

" _Whoa. This stuff is pretty high-density._ " Enzo virtually understood everything Pythias was communicating to him. He was able to visualize the entire structure of the cell, the DNA configuration stored in the nucleus, and the way all the cells in the computer interconnected to form the complex neural network. Had someone tried to explain this to Enzo verbally, he would not have had the patience to pay attention. He was assimilating a small textbook in nanoseconds, yet he retained all the information perfectly.

" _Do you see?_ " asked Pythias.

" _I think_ ," said Enzo. " _But I still don't see how my idea could work. This isn't an electronically based system. There isn't a central core where the primary source code is kept. How can we corrupt the source code... sorry_ , _I mean the genetic code of the computer if every neuron has the same DNA? We'd have to destroy every one._ "

" _You are still thinking as a Data Sprite_ ," said Pythias. He sensed annoyance from Enzo. " _Sorry. I'm being condescending again. Let me explain. Your idea was to cripple the system by introducing a direct command into the core. Right?_ "

" _Yeah. I've been reading about how viruses introduce their own code into a system through the core. That's how they infect on a large scale. I thought about how Daemon used data nodes to seed systems with her code then release it simultaneously. I thought we could use a data node the same way_ , _only instead of downloading a virus we could input commands directly into the core._ "

" _It is a good plan; it just needs a little adjustment. You're familiar with electromagnetic detonators. You've studied them in the Read-Only Room._ "

Enzo had indeed. The Read-Only Room had technical specs on every weapon system in the armory. He had studied those files with vested interest during his reclusive cycles. How would an EM detonator help them here?

" _We will have to modify it to double as a data distribution device_ ," Pythias said.

" _Why can't we make a data node like the ones Daemon used?_ "

" _The technical specifications no longer exist. Daemon took them with her when she was offlined by Hexadecimal. An EM warhead can be modified to deliver a high-yield electromagnetic pulse as well as a data stream._ "

" _What kind of data stream?_ " asked Enzo.

" _A new DNA sequence. One that will cause a malfunction in the system's neural network. It would spread to every neuron through every Tower._ "

" _That would trash the whole system_ ," said Enzo.

" _Exactly._ "

The specifics of the plan were coming into Enzo's focus. " _I think I'm starting to see it. Yeah... this might actually work. When do we start?_ "

" _This neuron can provide us with the materials we need to create the warhead. All we have to do is manipulate the nucleotide sequences of the DNA in the nucleus and it will carry out our instructions._ "

" _Okay_ ," said Enzo. " _Let's do it._ "

They both stepped up to the nucleus and peered inside. Enzo could see the double-helix spiral through the containment field. Through the link, he felt Pythias reach out with his mind and touch the molecule. He uncoupled the ester bonds between the sugars and phosphates of one of the nucleotides and rearranged the base pairs. When he was done, he reattached the bonds and went to work on another nucleotide.

Enzo noticed the walls of the neuron were rippling with electricity. The cell was apparently exerting itself in compliance with the new instructions Pythias was giving it.

" _How long until your friends show up?_ " asked Pythias.

" _They should be here any time now_ ," Enzo said. " _If I know Dot_ , _she's already got a plan for coming after me._ "

* * *

The Gateway Command had no trouble locking on to Enzo's emergency signal. Matrix, Ray, Bob, Sawyer, and Green were gathered in the Core Room. Mouse and AndrAIa agreed to stay behind in case a game cube landed in the system while they were away. Professor Matrix and Dot stood by the control terminal. They had to terminate the wormhole Sawyer had been using to communicate with the physical universe, but it could easily be reestablished once they returned.

"Navigation has the system targeted," said Welman. "We're ready to establish the connection."

"Hold up. We're waiting on a few more people," said Bob.

"Who?" asked Green.

"Oh, no," said Matrix. "You didn't."

"We may need their help, Matrix," Bob said.

"Since when have Hack and Slash ever been any real help?" asked the maverick Guardian.

"I knew I was missing something," Sawyer said. "Where have they been? I haven't seen them since I've been back." Bob nodded to Matrix, who sighed. "What did you do to them?"

"I didn't do anything!" exclaimed Matrix.

"He blew them up," said Dot.

Sawyer's eyes widened. "You blew them up? As in on purpose?"

"As in _it was an accident_ ," said Matrix.

"So he says," said Ray.

"Watch it, Surfer!" Matrix said threateningly.

"What's accidental about blowing up two robots?" asked Sawyer.

"It was in a game," said Matrix. " _A war game_. The user was in an armored tank. I had a bazooka in my hands, I took a shot, and those two idiots got in the way!"

"Got in the way? How can you get in the way of a flying grenade?" asked Sawyer.

"Why don't you ask them? Here they come."

The two robots entered into the Core Room and approached the group. From Kevin's reckoning the two looked perfectly normal.

"Oh, hey, it's the user guy!" Slash said, pointing when they got close enough to see him.

"What's up, Doc?" asked Hack.

"Uh... hi, boys. How've you been?"

"Should you tell him or should I?" asked Slash.

"I don't really want to talk about it," Hack replied.

"He's been very sensitive lately," Slash explained to Sawyer. "We've been going through an ordeal."

"You two got blown up, right?"

"Oh, the agony!" Hack exclaimed.

"Do you have any idea what it feels like to have every part of you separated from every other part of you?" asked Slash.

"I have a feeling you're about to tell me."

"It hurts!" Hack screamed.

"I imagine it would," said Kevin. "Who put you back together?"

"Professor Matrix," said Hack. "But we've been repaired for cycles. We were kept offline."

"Offline? You were turned off?" Sawyer turned and eyed Matrix, who huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to be shut down for that long?" asked Hack.

"How would he know, he's a user."

"Oh, yeah. Good point. Well, it's really... weird."

"Okay, we get it!" said Matrix. "Now if you two don't can it I'm going to dismantle you by hand, _without shutting you off!_ "

The two bots shook in terror at the renegade's threat, hugging each other like frightened children.

"Don't worry about the Jolly Green Giant, guys. He'll have his eye on me the whole time," reassured Sawyer.

"Okay," said Dot. "Everyone pay attention. This is strictly a search and retrieve. We get in, find Enzo, and get back to Mainframe."

"We're not going to shut this guy down?" asked Mouse.

"Anything we do in cyberspace won't affect the physical state of the system," said Sawyer. "It's a biological system so it can heal itself on the cellular level. We'd never be able to cause enough damage to do any real harm."

"We have the coordinates for the system now," Bob said. "We can send a Guardian team to shut it down later."

"Doc, you know more about this system than any of us," said Ray. "What kind of resistance can we expect?"

"I have no idea, Ray. I only know the science involved. I don't have a clue about what defenses Martin has in place, much less about the layout."

"Blind leading the blind," Matrix said.

"It's better than not being led at all," said Dot. "Okay, Dad, activate the Gateway."

Welman entered commands into the terminal and the Gateway shimmered to life. A portal spun to life, its surface undulating like the surface of a deep ocean.

Dot turned to her father. "Don't worry, Dad. We'll bring him home."

The professor nodded and his daughter leaned up to plant a kiss against the glass dome containing his nullified form. Dot joined the others in front of the Gateway Command.

Bob knew better than to argue with Dot. Once her mind was made up she could not be dissuaded. However, that did not stop him from trying. "You don't have to come. Mainframe needs its ."

"My brother needs his sister," she said. "I know my priorities, Bob. I'm a sister first."

Bob nodded in understanding. She gave the order to move out and they began entering the portal.

The disorienting vertigo that accompanies portal travel did not seem to faze anyone except poor Dr. Sawyer, who was still unaccustomed to the conventional form of travel. He did not know if it was the shock of simply being in one place then suddenly being somewhere else, or if it had something to do with the actual rollercoaster aftereffects of wormhole transversal. Either way he felt sick, dizzy, and if he could look in a mirror, he thought, he was sure his face would be a most lovely shade of green.

"Are you gonna be okay, Doc?" asked Ray.

He nodded. "I'm just not used to traveling through portals."

His nausea was quickly forgotten when he saw where they were.

"Hey, you made it!" exclaimed Enzo.

They were inside some kind of room made of flexible, milky white material. Pythias and Enzo were standing near a vertical tube that ran from the ceiling to the floor. It was flared at the ends like a funnel where it met the roof and floor, and it glowed orange. Pythias did not turn to greet them. Instead, he kept on working on whatever it was he was doing.

"We've been waiting on you," Enzo said. "I'm guessing you followed my signal."

"Stand back, Enzo," said Matrix as he raised his gun and leveled it at Pythias.

"Stop!" Enzo shouted, putting himself between the bullet's path and Pythias.

"Hey, it's little Enzo!" exclaimed Hack.

"He ain't so little anymore," Slash said. "How long did you keep us offline? The kid's all grown up!"

"What's wrong with you, kid?" asked Matrix angrily. "Get outta the way!"

"No! Put Gun down and listen to me!" He found it frustrating having to go back to verbal communication. It seemed so slow and inefficient compared to telepathy.

"He's infected," said Green. "He'll do or say anything to protect Pythias."

"Green, shut up. You're not helping," said the young man. "I'm not under anybody's control except my own. Pythias is trying to help us."

"Help us?" exclaimed Ray. "He tried to erase us!"

"That was before he knew what he was doing. Pythias and I are working on a way to cripple this system."

"Enzo, you're sick," Ray said. "You may only think that."

"I'm not sick! I'm not being manipulated, and I'm not in danger." He turned to Bob. "Bob, please believe me. We saw how Hex changed. I'm telling you, Pythias has changed too. Just give him a chance."

Bob hesitated. This could be an elaborate setup, but Enzo had a point. Hex had changed. She made up her mind to be more than just a virus and grew beyond her programming. Perhaps...

"Everyone stand down," said Bob.

Matrix looked to Bob, then to Pythias, then to Bob again. Finally, the maverick relaxed and lowered Gun. Green was a little less trusting.

"You can't be serious!" she exclaimed.

"Green, I said stand down," reaffirmed Bob.

She finally lowered her pistol, albeit hesitantly.

Dot ran up to her brother and held him for a nanosecond. "You nut," she said softly. She looked him in the eye. "What were you thinking?"

"I... had a plan. Apparently. Well, I was going to call it a plan if it worked."

"A plan?" asked Dot. "What kind of plan?"

"One that will destroy this system and stop Martin from ever using it again," said Pythias. The tall supervirus turned from the nucleus and faced Enzo. "I have finished inputting the information into the cell's DNA. We will have the device in a few moments."

"What device?" asked Ray. "What are you two doing?"

"We're building a bio-quantum warhead," Enzo said.

"Bio-quantum?" asked Sawyer. "I've never heard of anything like that."

"It's something Pythias and I have been working on together," said Enzo.

"What exactly is it?" asked Kevin.

"It is a weapon," said Pythias. "The warhead is designed to deliver a malicious DNA sequence into the nucleus of every neuron in this system."

"How? This system must be made up of billions of brain cells."

"There are electronic components in the system too," Enzo explained. "They're called Translation Towers. They're hardwired into the system and connect directly with the neural network. The DNA sequence isn't really made of DNA, it's a program written in machine binary. The warhead will download the code into a Tower and it'll translate the program into the programming language of this system. Then the code will be spread to other brain cells in the system."

Enzo continued to explain the dynamics of the plan. The code would be distributed to every neuron where the DNA in the nucleus would be mutated. The result would be a system-wide malfunction which would result in an overall shutdown.

"Cancer," said Kevin. "You're trying to give the system cancer."

"Essentially," said Pythias. "We would also need to destroy the Translation Towers as well. If we can use them to damage the system, Martin is genius enough to figure out how to use them to repair it. That's why we need an EM discharge. A powerful enough pulse would send a feedback surge through every tower and short them all out."

Dot turned to Sawyer. "Kevin? What do you think?"

"It sounds convincing. But I'm a physicist, not a bioengineer. Whether their plan will work or fail is anybody's guess. Still, I think we should give it a try." Dot seemed uncertain. "It's better than nothing. I haven't got anything better."

Dot turned to Bob. "What do you think?"

"I agree with Kevin. This is the best plan we've got, and Enzo seems to think it'll work. That's good enough for me."

Dot seemed to agree as well, but the thought of placing the fate of the Net in the hands of a child and a virus made her hesitate. Was this really the best course of action? Maybe not, but it was the only one with any chance of succeeding.

"Okay," she said. "We'll give it a try."

"Hold on," Green said indignantly. "This is eight-bit, all of it."

"What's your problem?" asked Enzo.

"Don't tell me you believe him," said Green. "He's a virus. A supervirus! And we're supposed to place our trust in him and 1.0 kid?"

"He's not lying," Enzo said, coming to Pythias's defense.

"How do you know? He could be using you. You're infected."

"I rendered the code inactive after our link formed," said Pythias. "There is no control whatsoever. Enzo and I are capable of sharing our thoughts, nothing more."

"So says you," spat Green. "And what about this guy?" She pointed at Sawyer. "Ever since I first met him everyone mentions him being a user. Then Pythias finally told me straight out that he was! Now, so far I've tried to keep an open mind for the sake of stopping this MacDonald guy. But enough is enough. I want answers!"

"And you're entitled to a few, I'm sure," said Sawyer.

"Kevin..." cautioned Bob.

"It's all right," Kevin said. "It was bound to come out sometime." He stepped closer to Green and began in a steady voice. "Everything you've heard is true. I am what you know as a user." He saw her lips part in astonishment. "I come from outside the Net, from a parallel universe. There I'm the leader of a government experiment. My team and I built a machine that could allow us to transfer our physical bodies into your universe."

She blinked rapidly, as if trying to process the information. "How... how many of you are there here?"

"There are two of us. Martin MacDonald, the user that created Pythias, he was the first to discover your reality. I discovered it by accident when I was teleported into Mainframe."

"But why? Why did you come here?"

"Not all users are alike," said Sawyer. "Some, like me, want to preserve the Internet and keep it from being exploited by people like Martin."

"He's telling the truth, Allison," said Bob. "Kevin isn't here to hurt us, he's here to help us."

"I know all this must sound fantastic to you, but you've got to believe me," Kevin said.

"I'm not sure I completely believe you," she said.

"You don't have to believe me. In fact, I prefer if you didn't. You just have to trust me."

There was a magnification of light throughout the room and a square table, three feet square, seemed to rise out of the floor. At first it was made of the membrane material like the rest of the room then it took on a metallic characteristic. An object was extruded from the table in the same fashion. It was twelve inches across and circular. It was made from a silver metal, maybe stainless steel. It was like a model flying saucer. On the top a bubble was filled with a blue liquid.

"We had to use a super-dense liquid crystalline substance to hold the malcode," said Pythias. "Again, that idea came from Enzo."

"Enzo?" asked Dot.

"Dad wrote a paper about it a long time ago. I read it when I was in the Read-Only Room. I couldn't understand half of it, but Pythias was able to use some of my knowledge to build this. That's why I had to go with him." They still eyed him strangely. "Guys, I'm not any smarter than before. I just don't have the... _mental discipline_... to appreciate the things I know."

Pythias winced a bit, as if wounded by that statement.

"We will need to place devices like this in at least thirteen towers in order to spread the code over a large enough area for the computer to be affected quickly," said Pythias.

"Can you make that many?" asked Kevin.

"Yes. And it won't take very long now."

"Okay, then," said Dot. "Let's put MacDonald out of commission."


	15. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13: The Villainous and the Virtuous

Dot tried to make Enzo return to Mainframe through the Gateway Command, but he would not go. He said he needed to see this through, and he could help here to make the work go faster.

They divided into teams of two. Bob and Dot, Matrix and Green, Ray and Kevin, and Enzo went with Hack and Slash. Pythias stayed in the neuron and kept producing the bio-quantum warheads while they all seeded the necessary towers.

After nearly half a millisecond, only three towers were left to be seeded. Enzo, Hack, and Slash stayed behind while the other six took a warhead and left through the teleportation arch.

While the others were gone, Hack and Slash amused themselves by playing with the membrane.

" _I'm surprised you didn't share your insight with your sister_ ," Pythias said. " _She's a capable tactician. She would have been impressed._ "

There was a little resentment in Enzo's feelings when he mentioned Dot. " _Like Dot always says_ , _I'm just a little kid. And she's right. They're all right. I'm not an adult_ , _not really anyway._ "

" _I have observed your behavior_ , _Enzo_ , _and I have looked inside your memories. You have experienced many things in your life_ , _not the least of which has been sorrow. I know you wish to make your family proud_ , _especially Bob. You hold him so highly_ , _and I understand why_ , _but you also want to be acknowledged by your brother and sister._ "

" _He's not really my brother_ , _you know. I'm his backup._ "

" _And that's how he makes you feel_ , _isn't it? Like a copy._ " The sting was palpable through the mental link, and Pythias sensed the growing frustration in his companion.

" _Why did you stop the viral code from infecting me?_ " asked Enzo. He had picked up on that tidbit of information a while back, but had not mentioned it.

" _I did not want to see you get hurt because of me. I had no idea my code would be so destructive to your body. For that_ , _I'm very sorry for the pain I caused you. Once I realized a telepathic link was forming_ , _I probed your mind and deactivated the viral code so there would be no more danger of harm. It was the least I could do._ "

Enzo's features softened, and he sighed. " _Apology accepted._ " Enzo felt a wave of relief pass through their shared link.

" _Thank you_ ," Pythias said.

Then they felt it. Through their shared link, Enzo realized something was wrong.

" _Can you feel that?_ " asked Pythias.

" _Yes. It's Martin_ , _isn't it? He's found us._ "

" _They have detected the security breach. Martin is no doubt aware of my presence... and yours._ "

* * *

"What do you mean he's been in the system? Why didn't we detect him?" asked MacDonald.

"I think he bypassed the security measures around the firewall," said Fletcher. "He was covering his tracks."

"Covering his tracks?"

"For lack of a better description," said Fletcher feebly.

Disgusted, Martin turned from Fletcher's workstation and stalked toward the interface.

"There's something else, sir," called Fletcher. "We've detected other cyber-beings inside the system as well."

Fletcher stopped and turned. "What? Other cybers? How can that be?"

"The only explanation I can think of is that Pythias let them in."

For a few moments MacDonald was silent. Then he said, "Scan them, and see which one of them doesn't have a PID signature."

"We already have, sir, that's why this is so weird. There's one entity that doesn't have PIDs. It's almost like there's another human in there."

MacDonald's eyes suddenly became filled with a crazed rage. "Target the machine to that entity's location and prepare to transfer me there." He resumed his walk to the interface machine, then he stopped again and yelled to Fletcher. "And load up the physical enhancements for the interface program."

* * *

The all-encompassing darkness was bone-chilling and deeply frightening. It just seemed unnatural for a place to be so pitch black.

 _At least the Web has some color_ , thought Ray Tracer.

Kevin was almost through setting up the warhead to deliver its payload. It was an interesting design. A piercing clamp attached too the floor where, apparently, a sample of code was introduced into the tower. The purpose was to make the warhead seem like it belonged in the system, and therefore it would avoid detection. Kevin knew very little about biology but knew of viruses that mimicked certain blood factors to avoid detection by the body's immune system. This seemed to follow a similar approach. Once the Tower read the code, the warhead was absorbed into the floor.

"Okay, that's it," said Kevin. "We should —"

Ray suddenly vanished in a flash of light. Kevin looked all around but saw no sign of him. He had been teleported away somewhere. Sawyer instantly remembered the communicator Dot had given him and dug it out of his pocket. He opened a channel and spoke into the mike.

"Ray! Ray can you hear me?"

"Yea, mate," came the surfer's Aussie-accented voice.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I'm still in the system, though. Can't tell — _zzzt_ — far I've — _pshhh_."

"Ray, say again. You're breaking up."

"I'm — _zzztt_ — you, mate. _Pssstzzzzztttt_ — ay back. _Psssssssssss_."

"Ray," said Kevin. "Come in, Ray."

"I took the liberty of making sure we were alone," came the voice of Marin MacDonald.

"Figures," Kevin said as he faced his former friend, now his nemesis. "So it's just us."

"Yes. Just you and me." Martin's eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't have come here. What did you intend to do?"

"Whatever it takes to stop you."

Martin laughed mockingly. "You are pathetic, Sawyer. You obviously lack the vision to appreciate what it is I'm doing."

"All I see is a madman with delusions of godhood. You're not God, Martin."

"You're wrong about that," said Martin. "In here, I'm very much a god. And it's time I struck down those who think otherwise."

Kevin pulled his pistol and leveled it at Martin. "I don't want to kill you, Martin, but I will if I have to."

"Give me your best shot," dared MacDonald.

Sawyer did not hesitate. He pulled the trigger, the laser passing right through Martin's body as if it were nothing but air.

"You forget. This isn't my real body. I'm not really here. The system is designed to protect my higher brain functions from injury." Kevin's hand laser suddenly disappeared in a teleporter beam and reappeared in Martin's hand. "As you can see, in this universe I am no mere mortal. You, on the other hand, physically exist as a cyber-entity, which means if I kill you, you _will_ die." He aimed the weapon at Kevin and smiled. "Good-bye, Kevin."

* * *

"Hey, is anyone on this frequency?" shouted Ray through the com watch.

"Ray," said Bob, "where are you?"

"Someone teleported me out of the tower I was in, but Doc Sawyer was kept behind."

Bob looked to Pythias. "It must be Martin," said the supervirus. "He is aware of our presence."

Bob spoke into the communicator. "Have you been able to contact him, Ray?"

"We talked for a few nanos, but something was interfering with the signal and I lost him."

Enzo said, "Kevin might be in trouble. Pythias, is there any way —"

"Martin is here. He is in the system," Pythias announced, reading his mind.

"We have to get to that tower," said Dot.

"No. You must return to Mainframe while I begin the countdown," Pythias said.

"What?" said Enzo.

"I will take care of Martin," said Pythias.

Enzo saw past the smokescreen and read his thoughts. Pythias tried to conceal his true intentions, but failed.

"How will Kevin get back?" asked Matrix.

"I will use the system to teleport him back to Mainframe," said Pythias. "But you all must leave. It is no longer safe for you to be here."

"Pythias, you can come with us," Enzo said. "You can make a life for yourself without Martin."

Pythias smiled at the young sprite. Enzo's thoughts were full of compassion and friendly warmth. He was recalling Hexadecimal's sacrifice and how he did not wish to see another friend meet the same fate.

"Sometimes our fates are written for us," said Pythias. "In this case, I cannot go against my code. When this system dies, I will die as well." He saw the look of anguish on the boy's face. "This system gave me life, and it is what sustains me."

"Why didn't you let me know any of this before?" asked Enzo.

"I knew you would try your hardest to save me. But I don't need saving, Enzo. You already did that. What I need is absolution, and you cannot give me that."

Enzo saw his thoughts and did not offer an argument. He simply nodded and stepped back.

" _You were a good friend_ , _Enzo. The only one I ever had. Thank you._ "

"Guys, we need to go," said Enzo. He turned and saw uncertainty in his sister's eyes. "We can trust him. Believe me."

She sighed and nodded. "Ray," she said into her com watch, "activate your emergency signal. We're all pulling out." She pressed the emergency signal on her own watch and nanoseconds later a portal spun into existence and they were gone.

* * *

Kevin thought quickly. He was about to be fried with his own laser, and Martin was right. If he died in here, he died for real.

 _Think_ , _Kevin_ , he thought to himself. _Think fast!_ In that moment of desperation, it came to him. During their college years, Martin and Kevin had played countless games of chess and poker together. Where Martin would defeat Kevin in chess nine times out of ten, Kevin would always best Martin at poker.

When it came right down to it, Martin was the most human person of all, and Kevin knew it. Poker was a game of luck as much as spirit, whereas chess was pure strategy. Kevin gambled Martin's vanity would overtake him.

"Coward!" screamed Kevin.

Martin flinched. "What did you just —"

"You heard me," shouted Kevin venomously. "You think you can take me in a real fight, you piece of..." He went on shouting every obscene insult he could think of and saw Martin's expression grow more and more heated and enraged. "What's the matter? Can't fight like a real man, so you have to resort to all this fancy bull? No wonder Jessie left you for me."

That did it. He threw the laser down with a savage scream. Martin had just shown Kevin his cards. "Come on!" Kevin yelled. "Let's settle this!"

Martin rushed at Kevin, trying to tackle him to the floor. It was a lousy maneuver. Martin did not know how to fight, but Kevin did. He remembered his father taking him to lessons with a man named Catino, a tough sergeant who had been in the Air Force Special Forces. That had been years ago. He wondered if he still had the moves.

Kevin bent Martin's arm over, locking it and then twisting it at the wrist. He heard the cracking of bone and a cry of agony from Martin.

 _Guess I've still got it._

Kevin smiled evilly, then used his right foot to knock the back of Martin's right knee out. Martin collapsed to the floor and toppled over, Kevin releasing his arm. His shoulder was dislocated and his wrist broken.

"You'll be feeling that for a while," said Kevin.

He heard a chuckle come from Martin. "You stupid simpleton."

"Now you're just trying to hurt my feelings."

MacDonald rose to his feet. Where his shoulder should have been at an odd position to his body, it was still in its socket. Kevin again remembered the nature of Martin's machine. He was not really here. He was fighting an avatar of sorts, a program designed to hold his mind. No matter how hard or how precise his blows were Sawyer was not really harming him.

"That's right, genius," said Martin. "No matter what you do to this body, it doesn't really matter. My true self is still in the real world, which means you can't do anything."

"You can still feel pain. That much is obvious. We'll just see how much I can do."

Kevin attacked Martin with an uppercut to the chin and then a forceful blow to the heart. These sent him stumbling backward when they should have rendered him unconscious. Sawyer tried for another strike, open palmed, at his nose, but Martin caught his arm and squeezed it like his fist was a hydraulic clamp. Kevin felt the bones in his arm snap and he cried out in pain. Then Martin reached out and grabbed him by the throat. His air cut off, Kevin struggled to get out of his iron grip.

"I made a few adjustments before I came in here," Martin said with a wicked grin.

Martin threw Sawyer across the room, and he hit the ground a few feet away. Kevin coughed fiercely. His respite was momentary as Martin's right foot dug into Kevin's side. The force was enough to make a field goal. What air was in his lungs was instantly expelled and he felt a sharp pain in his sides. It was his ribs. He could not breathe now because the pain was too great.

He saw Martin coming for him. Kevin tried to move, but it was no good. Agony wracked his body through-and-through. It was then another teleporter beam flashed and Pythias appeared.

"Martin!" called the supervirus.

The mogul turned and confronted his creation. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm putting a stop to your activities," said Pythias.

"What are you talking about?"

"All this is about to be over, Martin. This is the end."

"You've obviously been misled by this man," said MacDonald, referring to Kevin. "Our mission is one of great importance. It is not your place to question it."

"You're wrong! You've been using me for your own ends. I will not help you anymore."

"You will do as you're told!" Martin marched toward Pythias with an air of authority.

"And I will not take your orders either."

"Why you..." Without warning, Martin punched Pythias square in the chest. The force sent the supervirus hurtling backwards. "You ungrateful thing! I gave you life! I can destroy you at a moment's notice just as easily."

"It's already over, Martin," said Pythias. "You've lost."

Suddenly, the whole system lit up as if the sun itself appeared in all its glory. Kevin realized the warheads must have activated. The brightness died down almost as instantly as it had ignited, and the whole place took on a color similar to that of twilight. Sawyer got up slowly, gritting his teeth at the pain surging across his nerves. Apparently, his movement brought him back to Martin's attention.

"You," he screamed. "You did this!" He marched back over and delivered another kick to Kevin's gut. This knocked him to the edge of the tower. Next to him was the seeming endless fall.

He felt a foot on his throat, crushing his windpipe. Kevin could no longer fight back. He wanted to. If he could, he would have grabbed Martin's foot and tossed him over the side. And then, Martin's image began to flicker. Kevin felt the pressure on his airway vanish and he could breathe!

Martin uttered one last cure at Kevin before he vanished entirely.

Panting, Kevin got to his knees and saw Pythias lying a few feet away. He hobbled over to the fallen virus to find him flickering in and out.

"My, God," said Kevin. "What's happening to you?"

"I'm dying, just as the system is," he replied.

"I can get you back to Mainframe. We can help you."

He shook his head. "I'm finished, no matter what." He struggled to sit up. "You are injured."

"I'll be fine. You won't be unless you start moving."

"I'm done. My existence is over. I cannot live without the computer."

Kevin tried to think of something to get him to come with him. Surely there was something they could do. But before he could say another word, Pythias seemed to pass out. Then, in a flash of light, Sawyer was sent back to Mainframe.

"Get a med team in here," ordered Bob.

Kevin appeared in the Core Room, his body obviously beaten. He was leaking some sort of red liquid from his lips and from cuts over his face. Bob thought it might be the user's equivalent of energy.

AndrAIa was in the Core Room now and saw he was in agony. She pricked him with one of her fingernails and the toxin put him to sleep quickly.

"What happened to him?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Bob.

A med team arrived shortly and carried Sawyer away to the infirmary.

* * *

As the system crashed around him, Pythias felt his own strength fade. He was about to die, he knew. It was almost a pleasant prospect. What was death anyway? He knew the textbook definition, but the experience was something he could only imagine. Maybe he would not cease to exist. Perhaps there was something else beyond "life" that awaited him. Could it be that death was just another step in his evolution as a person?

His eyes flashed open, and instantly he knew.


	16. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14: Recovery

Dr. Sawyer breathed shallowly for the next few seconds. Martin had done quite a number on him. Three ribs were cracked, one was broken, and his right forearm was fractured. Thankfully, where weeks of healing would be required in the physical universe, medical science in Mainframe was far more advanced. Phong used all manner of strange instrument over his wounds and weeks of recovery were reduced to days. On the fourth day (or rather, the fourth second) of his involuntary imprisonment in the Principal Office infirmary, Phong released him with a clean bill of health.

"Thanks for everything, Phong," said Kevin.

"I know of your dislike of hospitals," replied the old sprite kindly. "I hope my company was enough to distract you."

"It was, and I'm grateful," Kevin said.

Phong bowed humbly. "Will you be returning to your reality now?" he asked as they exited the infirmary. They turned toward the elevator.

"Someone has to confront Martin about this whole thing. The NSC is going to want to hear my report as soon as possible."

"Then I suppose this is good-bye," Phong said.

They stepped into the elevator.

"Actually," Kevin said, "this is just the beginning. I was hoping I could visit on a regular basis."

"That could be easily arranged," said Phong. "How long would these visits last?"

"I was thinking a cycle at a time," said Kevin. "Welman is already designing a new laboratory on level nine for us to work."

"Yes, I know about the laboratory. He has already filed several requisitions from Hugh Branch's lab. You will need a place to stay, of course."

"Are there any apartments available?" asked Kevin.

"You will have to ask Dot. She owns most of the real estate in the system."

"Why am I not surprised?"

* * *

Enzo drummed his fingers against the railing of the War Room's upper control station. He was agitated, and he could not understand why. Pythias was dead. He knew it for certain because his father's latest scans showed the viral code was degrading. Soon it would be gone for good. He felt a sense of loss, like a friend had died. He saw the same change in Pythias he has seen in Hexadecimal, and he felt sorry that Pythias met with the same fate.

 _Poetic irony?_ he thought. He sat it aside. Philosophy made his head hurt, and he had other things to think about. His future was one thing. He was physically eight hours older than he had been the second before. It was a new journey, and Enzo would relish it. Time had been taken from him, time he could have used to better himself. Pythias saw that potential and tried to nurture it in what little time he had. If Enzo learned one thing from this whole thing, it was that life is precious, and it is not to be wasted.

Kevin and Phong entered the War Room and Enzo greeted the scientist warmly.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"Much. Thanks for asking. Where is everybody?"

"Bob's with Dot in her office. Mouse and Ray are getting ready to leave again. Matrix and AndrAIa went to the diner."

"And what are you doing?" asked the scientist.

"Just thinking," said Enzo.

"You were thinking about Pythias, weren't you?"

"Yeah. He didn't deserve to die. It's not fair."

"Life is seldom fair, my child," said Phong.

"Tell me about it," Enzo said. He glanced back to Sawyer. "I guess you'll be leaving soon?"

"Yeah. I'm about to go suit up. I just wanted to say good-bye to everyone. By the way, where's Green?"

"She returned to the Supercomputer," said Phong. "Turbo wanted to debrief her as soon as possible."

"Is she... going to tell anybody about me?"

"I believe Bob convinced her that it would be in her best interest if she did not say anything. After all, who would believe that a user had physically visited cyberspace outside of a game cube?"

Kevin smirked. "Good point. Well, I guess I should get my suit on."

"Heading home?" asked Dot as both she and Bob came out of the office.

"Yeah," said Kevin. "Someone has to confront Martin. And the NSC will need to hear my report as soon as possible."

Kevin reached into his pocket and handed the communicator back to Dot. She took it.

"It'll be waiting for you when you get back," she said. "We've already made arrangements for your next visit."

"Arrangements?" asked Sawyer.

"Professor Matrix mentioned you'd be making regular trips from now on," said Bob. "Dot set you up with an apartment in Kits Sector."

Sawyer was speechless, but he managed to say, "Well... wow. Thank you."

"Don't mention it," said Dot. "After everything that's happened, it's the least we can do." She offered him her hand and he shook it gleefully.

They trusted him. Finally, he was a part of their world. There was still work to be done, a bond that needed to be forged. The first step had been taken, a relationship had formed, and at that moment a new future was born.

Microseconds later, they all bid Kevin farewell and watched as he vanished in a fountain of particles.

* * *

Martin sipped on his glass of vodka. It was his third this evening. The sun was setting over L.A., sparking an inferno in the sky. He felt the rage within him burn with equal intensity. He finished the glass with one last gulp. He felt the alcohol slide down his gullet and burn another hole in his stomach. His grip tightened on his glass.

He wanted to scream.

He wanted to kill.

The computer was ruined, its cells overtaken by a form of cancer. His life's work: gone. He knew it was really Pythias's fault, but the real blame rested on Kevin. Kevin and the Mainframers. They did this. They turned his creation against him, and now both Pythias and the computer were dead.

A growl erupted from Martin and he spun around, throwing the glass at the wall. It splintered into a million pieces.

No doubt Sawyer was forming an attack from this reality now. It would only be a matter of time before the jackals started pawing at his front door. No doubt Sawyer worked for the government. They were the only ones with the money and resources to build an interface platform of his design. If he was back, his superiors already knew everything Kevin knew about OmniCron's involvement with Pythias and Daemon.

Martin tried to calm down. All his assets had already been funneled into numerous dummy corporations. There was no way the government could freeze his resources. He could restart, rebuild. All he needed was an escape plan.

* * *

Kevin stepped out of the chamber. Technicians began helping him remove his pressure suit, and Kelly Cleaver was also there.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, Doctor," she said.

"No 'Hello?' No 'Dr. Sawyer, it's good to see you back safe and sound?'"

Her expression softened. "Hello. It's good to see you back safe and sound."

Sawyer managed his best fake smile. "Thank you. And I'll be happy to sit down and tell you everything I know."

She nodded. "I'll have a pot of coffee and some food brought to the conference room."

Kevin was moderately surprised by the act of kindness. "Thank you."

As Cleaver left, Tom walked in. "Good to have you back. What happened?"

"Martin's out of commission. We took out his computer. He's not going to be causing any more disasters."

"That's good to know," Tom said. "I guess we can all breathe a little easier."

"Yeah," Kevin said. "For now."


	17. Epilogue

EPILOGUE

"... _It's The Fox Report with Shepard Smith..._ Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, our top story this evening: computer software mogul Martin MacDonald was brought up on charges of terrorism this Monday. U.S. officials say they have evidence that links the OmniCron CEO to the Daemon virus, which appeared earlier this year on millions of computers throughout the world. MacDonald's attorneys issued this statement this morning..."

" _This evening on Paula Zahn NOW_ _..._ OmniCron President and CEO, Martin MacDonald, has been brought under investigation by the FBI under suspicion of terrorist acts against the United States and other foreign countries. Officials say that there is evidence to suggest MacDonald is connected, and may be responsible for, the Daemon virus, which infected millions of computers worldwide..."

" _This is NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams..._ Good evening. OmniCron owner and founder, Martin MacDonald, attempted suicide on Thursday after being brought under investigation by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies on charges of international terrorism. The LAPD says he was found by one of his employees hanging from a self-made noose in his private offices at the OmniCron building. Sources say MacDonald has been taken to an undisclosed medical facility in Switzerland for treatment. The U.S. District Attorney has not yet issued a statement concerning MacDonald's breakdown..."

* * *

Pythias looked out over the vastness of the Net. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined something so beautiful.

"Yes, it is quite lovely, isn't it?" came a female voice.

"Hello? Who are you?"

"Who are you, is the question," said the female voice. "I've been all by myself for such a long while. I didn't think I'd ever see anyone else here."

"Where is here, exactly?" asked Pythias.

"I'm not really sure. We're not deleted, I don't think. We're somewhere in between."

"How did you get here?" asked Pythias of his new companion.

"Oh, that's a long and boring story. Needles to say, it concerned a man." She chuckled. "I'm much more interested in how you got here."

"I'm not very sure either. I was dying, I know that, but just before I fragmented, I felt rejuvenated. I believe I figured out what death really was. Being so close to death must have triggered my evolutionary programming."

"Ooh, you sound like a very interesting person indeed. May I ask who you are?"

"My name is Pythias."

"Well, my name is Hexadecimal. Or rather it was. Welcome to the rest of your life."

Outrageous laughter rang out through the Net.


End file.
